Visions
by FireStorm1991
Summary: Bardock was not the only one who had visions of Frieza. Little Vegeta had the visions as well. Escaping to Earth, his visions lead him to meeting a young girl. Could she be the key to helping him take down a ruthless tyrant?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.

Whelp, here's another physics induced story (AU of course). I actually have two other AU ideas, but I'm only going to start this one and one other for now. I was thinking, what if Bardock wasn't the only one who had visions of Frieza and the future. What if a certain prince knew of his fate ahead of time? What would have been done differently?

* * *

><p>He was tossing and turning in his sleep, a young prince of a desert planet. He saw it all from the moment the deal with the tyrant was made to a scene where his planet, his home, his people would all be destroyed. The young boy cried out into his empty room, breathing heavily, trying to determine where he was.<p>

"Prince Vegeta," he heard the voice of his family's bodyguard, who had obviously been making his rounds, call out.

"B-B-Bardock?" Vegeta asked, not sure if he heard the voice of his family's most trusted guard.

"Yes, my prince, it's me," he replied. "What happened?"

"Freiza," he replied looking away from Bardock.

Bardock seemed confused by his reply. The young prince had only been around Frieza a handful of times. The only reason Bardock couldn't stand him was because of the visions he had been having, like the one he had now causing him to check on Vegeta. There was no way a six year old could grasp the full extent of the planet's position. "What do you mean, Vegeta?"

"H-he's going to take me away," Vegeta said hesitantly. "And then he's going to destroy everyone."

Bardock was in shock. The prince had had the same vision he just did. _I wonder what the king will say._

* * *

><p>And when Bardock reported to King Vegeta, his friend laughed in his face.<p>

"Bardock, old friend," King Vegeta laughed, "I think that last purging mission I sent you on has caused you to lose your mind."

"With all due respect, my king," Bardock said calmly, kneeling before his leader and friend, "but I am not the only one that had this vision."

The king's expression hardened. "Who else?"

"Your son."

* * *

><p>Vegeta trained just like he did on a normal day. Bardock suggested that he pretend as if nothing had happened, so that the entire planet didn't retaliate against Frieza at once. This needed to be handled by the royal family. Despite his fear regarding his current situation, Vegeta did just that.<p>

"Prince Vegeta, what's wrong?" his trainer, Nappa, asked. "You took four minutes longer to defeat one less Saiybaman. What's going on?"

Vegeta hesitated. He thought he had been acting normal, but now he realized. He just wasn't there in the fight and it showed in the way he fought and how he moved. That must have been what his father and Nappa always talk about when they say "watching your opponent" and "reading your opponent's moves." But what could he do? He couldn't just un-see what he saw.

"Nappa, are you implying that I'm getting weak?" Vegeta said calmly, yet defensively.

"No Prince Vegeta," Nappa replied, his voice laced with worry. "It's just that you are clearly not yourself. I am just worried about your well-being."

"Well you don't need to be," Vegeta lied. "I'm fine." He whispered that last part, trying to convince himself that everything was okay and that he wasn't going to be taken away from his planet and family.

* * *

><p>"Sir?" The king turned to face Bardock and sighed.<p>

"Fine," King Vegeta said in shame. "I'll admit it. I made an agreement with Frieza that if he would be given Vegeta, that he would leave the planet be. My wife does not know. I was under the impression that my son did not know."

"My king, why would you promise something like that to Frieza? We need to fight, not let him walk all over us."

"Bardock, I am your king and you will not fight me on this," King Vegeta said adamantly. "If we don't fight back, the planet will be safe, but if you try to go after Frieza, he will kill us all."

"I am sorry my king," Bardock replied, "but I will not sit around and let the prince be taken away."

Bardock flew out of the throne room, but could still hear the king ask, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

It meant that the prince was getting off the planet tonight, before Frieza could take him. He would be their only hope.

* * *

><p>The young prince bid goodnight to his mother and father and was ready to let sleep claim him. It didn't happen. For the first time in little Vegeta's life, he was terrified of what would come the next day. A knock on his door brought him back to reality. "Come in," he ordered. When Bardock entered the room with his eldest son, Raditz, with whom Vegeta had sparred with once, he relaxed. He knew that, for the moment, he was safe.<p>

"Prince Vegeta," Bardock greeted, "we are getting you off the planet tonight. You remember my son, correct?" Vegeta nodded. "I have given him the task of guarding you from now on. We need to get you off Planet Vegeta now."

Vegeta felt his chest tighten. He didn't want to leave, but he didn't want his vision to come true. Maybe if he did something different, it would change the vision as a whole. Vegeta nodded in agreement and quickly got out of his bed and packed a few things to remind himself of home. When they reached the loading dock, Nappa was leaning against one of the pods with his arms crossed. Vegeta noted that Bardock didn't look happy.

"Are you here to stop us?" Bardock asked.

"Stop you? No," Nappa replied. "But it is my job to train the prince. I'm going with them. We'll keep in touch."

Bardock and Raditz relaxed. Vegeta hadn't really been nervous. He had yet to grasp the situation. Everyone standing in the room knew that he probably would never be coming home and would never see his parents again.

Raditz helped Vegeta into a pod and explained to him everything that would happen during take-off, flight, and landing, just to make sure the child wouldn't be nervous about any of the sounds or being forced into a dreamless sleep for days at a time.

"Where to?" Raditz asked Nappa after Vegeta was safe and comfortable in the pod.

"To the farthest planet from here, or the farthest we can get on our fuel limit," Nappa answered with a shrug.

Raditz typed in a few quadrants in all directions. "I think the last place Frieza would ever think to look is here," he said pointing to a blinking dot on the screen. "It's called Earth."

"Earth it is."

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><p>AN: Yeah, so another story idea XD Oh course, why wouldn't there be? Anyway, I hope you liked it.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.

Wow, that's a lot of reviews for a first chapter :D That makes me very happy.

Cara2012: I hope so. Idea kind of came out of nowhere along with many other story ideas. I swear, it's like my brain is trying to spit out stories faster than I can type them XD

KimiruMai: Well, he won't be Chibi Vegeta for long, for in this chapter I'm making a major time leap XD Yay, for time leaps.

Star870: Imma tryin' XD

Mathqueen2: I've been tossing around ideas of the meetings and I finally settled on one. There will be a time shift, because even though I'm sure Vegeta and Goku are strong as children, it's hard to imagine two little boys taking down Frieza, no matter what they're strength. Anyway, I think I'll either have the meeting now or in the next chapter. I want it to be a surprise, so I won't give hints now. Also, I never thought about Radditz and Nappa finding love interests in these, but I guess they would have to at some point. I'm not making them the same jerks from the show, though they will be a little arrogant and have that "mightier than thou" complex, but hell, so will Vegeta. I can't imagine them being Saiyans without that attitude XD Thanks for the idea.

Lonni: Oh, I hope it does. Thanks for reviewing.

Smalsa: I can promise surprises all around.

TeamVegetaGirl123: Of course he's going to meet Bulma :D Just not yet. Well, I mean, yes in this chapter, but after a few time skips.

Lady Weavile: Haha, don't worry about it. I'm glad you like the stories. I hope this one is just as good, however different it may be from my other AU's.

Sofy2011: Thanks, and I will definitely continue. I never leave a story uncompleted. If it takes me a while to update, it is not that I have given up, but that college is crazy XD

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><p>It had been days since the three Saiyans landed on Planet Earth and all seemed peaceful. They had landed near a meadow with a large cave. Saiyans, being so attuned to nature, managed to make a comfortable living space out of the cave in the more wooded area. They lived near a stream and forest so they were able to get all of the resources they need. They thought it would be best if they avoided contact with the human race as much as possible. The last thing they needed was to become a science experiment.<p>

Nappa had gotten in contact with Bardock and so far the king was blissfully unaware of the fact that his son was missing from the kingdom. The sad part was that it was normal for the king and prince not to see each other for weeks at a time if the king had meetings and the prince was training. The queen knew, and she was for her son's disappearance if it only meant that Frieza would be delayed in getting his twisted hands on him.

Vegeta continued having visions, but kept them to himself. He didn't know what Raditz or Nappa knew. He would probably end up telling Raditz eventually since his father had visions and he probably wouldn't think he was insane. Truth was Vegeta was beginning to form a brotherly bond with Raditz. Nappa was his trainer, not a friend and not family, just a respected trainer and comrade in future battles. Raditz, however, treated Vegeta like a brother, and it wasn't just because he felt obligated from the duties his father had dumped on him. The elder Saiyan truly cared for his wellbeing. Vegeta knew that Raditz had a real brother, they all knew, but that didn't seem to lessen the familial relationship they had.

"Vegeta, you okay?"

Vegeta had been meditating near the stream, though further away from the cave. He wanted to be alone, but he could never meet that desire with the other two Saiyans around him.

"I'm fine, Raditz," the young prince replied.

Raditz could tell he was lying and sighed. "Vegeta, my father told me about your ability, that you have visions like he does. You should never try to hide them, no matter how terrible. That will only destroy you."

Vegeta scoffed arrogantly. "You don't think your prince is strong enough to handle it?"

Raditz smirked a bit, but went back to frowning at the young boy. He was dealing with forces that he could not handle alone. Where the older warrior took pride in his prince's words, he knew that the arrogance was merely a front. He knew for he had watched his father deteriorate once before when he first had his own visions. If you kept the visions to yourself, they would come back again and again. Seeing the images multiple times would drive the young boy mad.

Instead of responding or leaving, Raditz took a seat next to his prince and started his own meditation. Vegeta went back to meditating as well. Both warriors were in tune with the elements around them, and for a brief second, before either could tell what was happening, Raditz saw what the prince was so desperate to hide.

_Fire, blood, piercing screams._

_Those were the words to describe their home planet. Frieza and his men led an attack on the people and there was no one strong enough to stop him, not even the prince who was currently away._

"_Frieza, what is the meaning of this?" King Vegeta asked forcefully. All he had said was that the prince was away for special training, but would be back in enough time to be handed over._

"_Oh, Vegeta, you are a fool," Frieza said in a sickening sweet voice. "You make it sound like I wasn't planning on doing this in the first place. I was actually on my way here to pick the prince up early because I was bored and wanted another planet to destroy. Oh well, the prince is gone. It matters not, for I'm sure I will come across him one day, but for now…" _

_Frieza didn't even finish his statement. He just shot the king with a ki blast through his stomach._

Raditz didn't see any of the other visions. Vegeta realized what was going on and opened his eyes, effectively ending the connection. He stared at Raditz, his eyes full of hatred, rage, but more importantly confusion and betrayal.

"Prince Vegeta," Raditz said calmly.

Vegeta growled and shouted, "Leave me alone," before flying off.

Raditz sighed and went back to meditating with the prince's expression still on his mind. His eyes had been filled with many emotions, like confusion and anger, but they were also filled with betrayal and hate. Raditz took no offense as those emotions weren't directed towards him or his accidental intrusion. The king had done a very un-Saiyan like thing. He had betrayed his first born son, and betrayal towards family was one of the worst crimes a Saiyan could commit.

* * *

><p>Raditz eventually went back to the cave and found Nappa screaming into one of the communication devices before pounding it, effectively breaking the device.<p>

"What's your problem?" Raditz sneered.

Nappa jumped at the sound of the young man's voice before glaring at him. "Where's the prince?"

Raditz shrugged, pretending not to be concerned that the prince had yet to return. "Around."

"Good," Nappa replied. "Raditz," he said carefully, not to alarm the young Saiyan, "our worst fear has been realized."

"Frieza," Raditz breathed out. It seemed like the tyrant actually did purge the planet like in Vegeta's vision.

Nappa nodded. "It's actually worse than we thought." Raditz shot him a confused look. "He didn't just purge the planet. That bastard destroyed it."

"W-what?" Raditz asked hesitantly. He knew showing weakness like that was looked down upon, but he could tell Nappa was in the same boat he was.

"He touched down on the planet and everyone was putting up a fight, but Frieza and his men were much stronger. I was speaking to your father who said that Frieza and the king were having an argument. He thinks Frieza killed him and went to go find the queen so that they could escape. I heard him scream out about something, and then everything went dead."

"That doesn't mean the planet is gone," Raditz said rushing over to the small radar they had. He nearly fainted when Planet Vegeta did not appear on the screen. "H-how could he…?"

Nappa didn't have an answer for him. "The prince is not to know," he ordered.

Raditz shook his head. "You want me to keep this a secret from a young child who is expecting to return to his parents in a few years. What could possibly go wrong with that?"

"The prince needs to focus on his training, not on the destruction of our planet. When he is strong enough, we will tell him, but until then you are to say nothing, understand?"

"Yes, sir," Raditz muttered under his breath before flying off to go look for the prince.

Vegeta watched as Raditz left the cave to go search for him. He had heard everything, and seen everything earlier. Knowing that it was seen as weak to cry for a loss, the young prince decided to hide his feelings and pretend like he hadn't heard anything.

At the same time he was about to enter the cave, he heard something crash-land somewhere nearby. He shrugged it off as a pathetic human invention and entered the cave. He didn't even bother to greet Nappa.

* * *

><p>Six years had passed since that day, and Vegeta, now twelve years old, was out walking in the forest alone. He was deep in thought, trying to piece together his most recent visions. They were of a young girl, his age, with hair as blue as the sea and eyes to match. He had visions of meeting her, travelling with her, and learning about all of her technology, technology that would help him train. <em>Who is she?<em> Vegeta asked himself. He didn't even realize how dark it gotten. The moon would be rising soon and tonight it would be full. _Shit! Well, better find some cover._

Meanwhile, back at the cave, Nappa was freaking out. "Where is the prince? He knows he shouldn't be out during the full moon! He'll be spotted by someone and we'll have to find another planet to hide out on until we have a plan to defeat Frieza!"

Raditz rolled his eyes. The eighteen year old had grown to highly dislike the eldest Saiyan. Nappa was incredibly strict with him and Vegeta and the two boys found themselves learning more from each other alone than from their "trainer." Raditz knew that Vegeta had some type of hiding spot in the woods and that he would go there to avoid the full moon. "He's fine, Nappa," Raditz growled. "Vegeta knows what he's doing."

Nappa glared at Raditz. "Vegeta? Have you forgotten your place, third-class?"

Raditz forced himself not to attack because of the insult. It was true that Raditz had been born with a weak power level, but he had made up for it in intelligence in battle. Even if he was a "third-class" he managed to defeat many first-class warriors and some elites. Even against Vegeta, he managed to win a fight at least twice.

"Prince Vegeta is my friend and brother as well as my prince, which you would have noticed if you pay attention to what the boy is going through."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Nappa snapped.

Raditz hesitated. His father told him to keep Vegeta's visions a secret. He decided to side-step the vision conversation. "Vegeta knows that Frieza destroyed our planet."

"You told him?"

"No, but he may have overheard. He's been hiding his knowledge for the last six years."

"That boy," Nappa muttered shaking his head. "He's going to be the death of me."

_Oh boy I hope so, _Raditz thought bitterly.

* * *

><p>Vegeta could not sleep. The twelve year old was having enough visions to give him nightmares, and they all had to do with the woman. Mating, family, commitment…he had no idea that he would be the type to give into that. He was still young, but in a few years' time he would understand.<p>

The moon was out; Vegeta could feel it. Even if he wasn't being affected by the blutz waves, he could feel it in his blood. He could even hear the sound of the Oozaru calling in the night. Wait, Oozaru? That could only mean either Nappa or Raditz got caught outside, though neither would be that stupid. No, it had to be someone else. But they were the only three Saiyans on the planet and left in existence. It was impossible, yet Vegeta couldn't help but feel that he had forgotten something. His eyes widened in realization.

The explosion six years ago. It had to have been a Saiyan ship.

The next morning, Vegeta went out in search of the other Saiyan. He could only figure out where to go by remembering the direction the sounds came from the previous night. He ended up higher on the mountain near a small house. He stared up at the house, studying its structure.

Out of nowhere, a small boy popped out of the bushes, running around without any clothes. Vegeta instantly noticed his tail and the fact that he looked like Bardock. _That must be Kakarot…_

"Oh, hi there, have you seen my grandpa? I can't find him anywhere."

Vegeta raised his brow at the young Saiyan. "Your 'grandpa?'"

"Uh-huh, Grandpa Gohan. Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Goku. What's your name?"

Vegeta's eyes widened. Kakarot had no memory of being a Saiyan, or his name. He would have to explain much later. "Vegeta."

"V…Vege…ta?" Goku asked. "That's a hard name to say. Can I call you Veggie?"

Vegeta glared at the young boy and then shrugged. "Whatever. Let's go find your 'grandfather.'"

"Thanks, Veggie," Goku said with a bright smile. Vegeta just grunted in response.

Vegeta and Goku split up momentarily, and Vegeta stumbled across the body of the boy's "grandfather." It was obvious what had happened. Goku had gone out during the full moon and transformed and accidently crushed the old man. Now he too was alone, without a family except for Raditz. Vegeta couldn't help but empathize with him.

"G-Grandpa…"

Vegeta turned to find Goku standing there, crying over his loss.

"H-He warned me never to go out during a full moon." Vegeta wondered if the boy had remembered what had happened. "He said there was a monster that attacked everyone. I just wanted to see the moon. I never saw it so big before. H-He must have come looking for me and gotten hurt."

Vegeta's stern face softened as he frowned. He didn't have the heart to tell the kid what had truly happened.

"I shouldn't have gone out…"

"Don't blame yourself," Vegeta said. "Sometimes we can't control what happens to our families."

Goku sniffled a bit and looked up at Vegeta. "Did you lose your family too?"

"Yes."

"I need to bury grandpa," Goku told him. "I…I don't want to say goodbye."

"Then don't," Vegeta replied. Goku looked at him in confusion. "Just say see you in the future."

Goku thought about it for a minute, his tail twitching back and forth. "Hey, that's right. But it'll be a long time. I'm still little."

Vegeta smirked. "You should come with me until then."

"Really?" Goku asked in shock. "But why? I don't know you." Vegeta uncurled his tail from around his waist. "Hey, you have a tail too!"

"Yes, and there are two others like us." Goku tilted his head. "Saiyans. We come from another planet. Actually, you have a brother."

"Really?" Goku asked before grinning. "Cool! What's he like?"

"Loyal, smart, and a decent opponent."

"What's his name?"

"Raditz."

"That sounds like radishes," Goku said with a laugh.

Vegeta decided to tease him too. "Well your name is Kakarot."

"Ew, that sounds like carrots. I hate carrots."

Vegeta laughed. Most Saiyans did hate the orange vegetable, so Kakarot was a very rare name indeed.

All laughs aside, the atmosphere grew very heavy again. They still had to honor his grandfather.

"I should take him home," Goku said. "He really liked being by the lake. We used to go fishing all the time."

"I'll go with you," Vegeta told him, picking up the body of the man who raised the little Saiyan.

"Veggie…thank you…"

After the short burial, Goku picked up a few things, like the power pole his grandfather gave him. He left a strange looking sphere on the pillow and said, "See you again soon, grandpa."

"We can come back," Vegeta stated making Goku's face light up.

"You would do that?"

Vegeta nodded looking at all the pictures of the older man as a young fighter. "It seems like he was a warrior. In our culture, we always honor our fallen warriors."

Goku nodded. "He was strong. He taught me everything I know."

Vegeta patted the small boys shoulder. "Let's go, Kakarot."

"Okay, Veggie."

And with that, the two Saiyans made their way back to the cave.

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><p>AN: So Vegeta has met Goku…or Kakarot…oh whatever -_- Anyways, next chapter will be another time skip. Just guess who they will be meeting next :D


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.

KimiruMai: I guess you're right. Goku was 12 in the series…but then in DBZ, Bulma said she knew him since he was 5…I don't know how that works XD

Dbzfan777: Yeah, I like Vegeta having a softer side too. I think he got his "evil" nature from dealing with Frieza, who didn't get a chance to take him away.

Mathqueen2: He's even more uptight in this chapter when they deal with meeting Bulma. Just wait until he is forced into Earthling life. Yup, and technically the three younger Saiyans are going to act like brothers the whole time. I think it's an adorable little twist :3 Well, he's I've thought about it and I can tell you now that his first wish that he plans on asking will not be able to be granted, but they're going to have to think of something because they will still be dealing with Pilaf XD That's going to be so much fun!

Star870: OMG HOW'D YOU KNOW? XD Just kidding. But yes, you're right ROFL

Gemini18: Thank you :D

Cara2012: Yes, exactly :D

TeamVegetaGirl123: Well, I tend to write him in situations where he wouldn't necessarily be hardened all the time :D I don't see him as a bad guy, really…only in the anime at times where he gives up on himself in a way.

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><p>Four years had passed and Kakarot, or Goku, was now twelve years old. Every year, on the anniversary of his grandfather's death, the four Saiyans would travel up the mountains to pay their respects while the small boy mourned.<p>

"Why do we do this again?" Nappa asked bitterly. As far as he was concerned, the human was a fool for trying to raise the Saiyan child. "He was just a pathetic human."

Vegeta and Raditz looked to each other, rolling their eyes. The teenaged prince and twenty-two year old soldier had gotten to the point where Nappa's teachings were useless and they grew irritated with his strict, superior, bossy attitude. Vegeta turned to face his taller guardian with authority.

"This man raised Kakarot and taught him to fight, a lot better than you have." Vegeta ignored Nappa's growl at the obvious insult. "It is proper tradition to respect our dead."

"That's the point!" Nappa shouted. "He is NOT our dead."

"Are you questioning your prince?" Vegeta asked with his brow raised.

Nappa faltered a bit. "No, sire," he muttered looking away.

"Veggie? Raditz?" The three Saiyans looked over to Goku. "I think I'm ready."

Vegeta nodded over to him and the small boy ran up to his two older brothers and hugged them. Vegeta and Raditz smirked down at him, but Nappa muttered something about "worthless Earthling emotions."

Just then, the four Saiyans picked up the sound of a motor headed towards them.

"Is that a monster?" Goku asked.

"No Kakarot," Raditz replied. He looked over to Vegeta. "Who would drive all the way out here?" Raditz asked him.

Vegeta shrugged, although he had a pretty good idea. He had been having visions of this day for years and he knew it would involve meeting the blue-haired girl. Part of him was nervous, because of all of his future visions of him and her together, but the other part of him was excited at meeting the intelligent, young girl.

Out of nowhere, a car shot through the trees as the driver had clearly lost control of the vehicle. A young girl gasped when she saw that she was about to crash into people.

She called out the window, "Out of the way! I can't stop!"

Nappa shook his head, thinking about how they were soon to be discovered, and was ready to fly off and let the girl crash into a tree or something. Raditz held Goku back, because he wanted to "fight the monster trying to attack Veggie." Vegeta just grinned and stood there, letting her crash into him, effectively stopping and breaking the out-of-control vehicle.

An air-bag prevented the blue-haired girl from crashing into the windshield. She sighed in relief before Vegeta spoke up.

"If I were you, I'd get out of that vehicle."

"Huh?" Bulma questioned.

When she didn't move, Vegeta forcefully pulled her out of her car. "How dare you?" she yelled, trying to get away from him. "Bulma Briefs will not be man-handled."

Vegeta smirked and pulled her away from the car that exploded not even ten seconds later. Bulma starred at the vehicle in a mixture of shock and terror. Goku tugged on Raditz's hand and said, "I think the monster died," which made Raditz chuckle.

Bulma turned to face Vegeta. "H-How did you know it was going to explode like that?" she asked him. Vegeta just shrugged. He looked over to Raditz who also looked questioning. He knew Vegeta had still been having visions. Powers like that don't just go away. But he hadn't ever told him about when he had visions or what they were of. "Well, I owe you a 'thank you.' If it weren't for you, I'd be a goner."

Vegeta flashed her another smirk and said, "Well, we wouldn't want that, now would we?"

Bulma stood there is shock as she heard his voice. He sounded hot, at least to Bulma. She blushed as she realized that she was staring at him. Vegeta didn't seem to mind as he took in the girl's beauty. "You said your name was Bulma, correct?" Bulma nodded, surprised at how eloquently he spoke. "My name is Vegeta."

Goku ran up to them and started studying Bulma, poking her. "What the heck are you doing?" she asked the child.

Goku looked up at her confused. "You look different than we do. You don't even have a tail."

Nappa face-palmed while Raditz just chuckled and pulled Kakarot away from the girl. "Leave her alone, Kakarot," he playfully chided.

"Her? Oh, you mean she's a girl?" Goku asked innocently. Bulma's eyes nearly bugged out when she heard the question. She looked back to Vegeta who was trying to conceal his laughter.

"What does he mean by that?" Bulma asked Vegeta. She nearly kicked Goku when he put his hand a little lower than her stomach.

Raditz pulled him up and flashed Bulma an apologetic look while blushing. "Um, he's never seen a female before," Raditz explained. "We tried explaining things, but this knuckle head hit his head as a child and sometimes it just goes in one ear and out the other."

"O…kay?" Bulma replied unsure. "Wait, he has a tail; you all do. Why?"

Nappa was about to tell her to go jump off the mountain, but Vegeta beat him to it. He knew what to say to her thanks to his visions; and he knew she would believe him.

"We are Saiyans, part of a warrior race. A tyrant from another planet enslaved us and attempted to take me into his position when I was six so that I would train to be his soldier. The four of us escaped, though we didn't find Kakarot until later. I am the prince and we are here to train to one day defeat him and take vengeance for what he did to our planet."

Nappa flashed Raditz a glare. Raditz just huffed and watched the interaction with the prince and this girl.

"That's quite a story, Vegeta, or should I call you Prince Vegeta?" Bulma asked playfully.

Vegeta's serious expression disappeared as he smirked at the girl. "Maybe, Bulma Briefs, just maybe I will allow you to drop my title."

"Well, isn't that generous of you?" she said with a smile. "But what are you doing out here?"

"We're visiting my grandpa," Goku said as he pointed inside.

"More like honoring him," Raditz corrected.

Bulma flashed a sympathetic look to the small boy who ran off to go look at the "monster" that blew up. "Kakarot was sent here separate from us with pre-set coordinates," Vegeta explained now that the boy was distracted. "It was a random purging mission, but thankfully he forgot his orders due to the injury. If you ask Nappa, though, he gets pissed off about it. His grandfather named him 'Goku.'"

"What about you three?" Bulma asked. "What are you to him?"

Vegeta continued to talk quietly with her while Raditz was trying to keep Nappa from blowing a gasket. "As I said, I am the prince of Planet Vegeta, named after my father. He was planning on handing me over to a tyrant. Raditz's and Kakarot's father knew that the lizard was planning to destroy the planet whether or not his demand for me was met. He was my father's most trusted guard. With his help, he got me off the planet with his son. Nappa, my trainer, headed us off and came with us. That is how we got here."

Bulma thought about it for a minute, and then smirked at Vegeta. "What makes you think I believe your story? Space stuff and aliens is a little farfetched. What if I think you guys escaped a loony-bin, hm? What's to stop me from calling someone?"

"You won't," Vegeta stated as a fact. "You've seen some stuff in your life that makes you believe in space travel and aliens."

Bulma gasped. "How do you know that?"

"Let's just say I'm good at reading people," Vegeta replied. "So tell me," he said not ever seeing what her reasons for being here were, "what is a city girl such as yourself doing in the middle of the woods on a mountain alone?"

Bulma didn't know how he knew she was from the city either, but he was right about her believing him. They had tails for goodness sakes. But she didn't know what she should say to him. Bulma Briefs, sixteen years of age, had gone off to search for Dragon Balls, magical spheres that when gathered together granted a wish. She was going to wish for the perfect boyfriend after so having so many that were only after her money and fame. But now she was thinking about the story that Vegeta has just told her. She'd be a terrible person if she kept this a secret from someone who was so honest with her and saved her life without knowing her.

She took out the two balls she had. "I'm looking for the Dragon Balls," she admitted. "There's a legend that says if you collect all seven of them then you would get a wish from the Eternal Dragon. Then they'd be dead for like a year. I built a radar to sense their locations. It brought me here."

Vegeta nodded, though he was shocked that there was something so powerful as to grant a wish. _Our people, _he thought sadly. It was a nice thought, but the girl was obviously looking for them for a reason. Then Vegeta remembered the sphere that Goku had. "We have it," he told her.

Bulma frowned. She couldn't possibly ask for it after hearing the sadness and hopelessness in his voice. Looking to the balls she had, she sighed in defeat. "Here," she said, placing them in Vegeta's hands. "I think you should have them."

Vegeta was shocked by her gesture. _She's giving up her wish for people, scratch that, aliens she doesn't even know?_ "Why? Don't you need them?"

Bulma flash a smile that told Vegeta that she was disappointed in herself. "I was going to wish for something stupid and selfish. Believe me; I'm sure they're going to better use in your hands."

Bulma started to walk away pondering how she was going to get home. She didn't notice Vegeta run in front of her and crashed into him. She looked at him questioningly before his calm and gentle voice spoke up.

"Come with us," he said, knowing that in his visions they were to travel together. At the time, he hadn't known why.

Bulma frowned and shook her head. "You don't even know me," she pointed out. "Why would you want me coming with you?"

"Because I do," Vegeta replied. "Don't fight me on this. You'll only lose."

He smirked at Bulma's stunned expression. No one had ever talked to her like that before in her life. Then she realized that she was prepared for the journey (minus the car) and they were not. They had no dragon radar, no shelter, and no way of knowing what to do with the spheres when they gathered them together. Her stunned expression was quickly replaced with an accepting smile. "I would love to join you four."

"What?" Nappa shouted, overhearing her acceptance. "And who said you're coming with us?"

Vegeta glared at Nappa and said, "I did."

"I think you should reconsider. She's weak."

"You know, I really don't think you should question the prince, Nappa," Raditz stated. "Plus, this girl did manage to make her way up here alone and survive a car crash. Now just shut up and accept it."

Bulma whispered to Vegeta, "I like Raditz and Kakarot…Goku…Nappa, not so much."

Vegeta chuckled. "None of us do."

"Alright, well, first we should get the Dragon Ball from your house and then make our way to the next one," Bulma suggested.

Goku looked alarmed. "But that's my grandpa."

Raditz groaned slightly. "Kakarot, we've been over this. It BELONGED to your grandfather. It isn't actually him."

"Oh yeah…but I still want it back after the wish."

"Fine Kakarot," Vegeta replied.

* * *

><p>Raditz went to get the Dragon Ball. He handed it to Bulma so that she could put it in her bag with the others. She started messing with the dragon radar when Nappa came up behind her and scared her.<p>

"I don't know what the prince sees in you, weak human female," he said darkly, "but I swear if you double-cross us, it will be your life."

Bulma tensed, but not because she was worried about he turning against them. Nappa just made her feel uneasy. "I wouldn't do that to him," she whispered. "To any of you. I'd rather the wish be made to get your planet back." Nappa flinched, not expecting the girl's honesty. "I think it's better that way, don't you?" Nappa nodded.

Vegeta walked back over to them and held his hand out for Bulma to take. "Um, yes?" she asked. Vegeta didn't answer. He just smirked again, pulling her into his arms and taking her up in the air. "Oh my God, you can fly?" she asked in amazement.

Vegeta chuckled. "Of course we can fly. Well, with the exception of Kakarot. He's still learning."

"This is so cool," Bulma said, making the prideful prince feel grateful for her words of acceptance.

"Where to?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Hm, looks like it's due east," Bulma answered.

Vegeta nodded and the four Saiyans took off in the direction with their new friend.

* * *

><p>AN: Yay, I got another chapter out. To anyone who wonders about the Vegeta/Goku rivalry, there really won't be. I kind of wanted to see what it would be like to make them have a sibling-type bond. I think it's cute :3 Anyway, the journey begins. Next chapter, they stop for the night and of course stay in a capsule house. I can promise some more awkward moments :D


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.

Mathqueen2: Lol, Nappa is just being a jerk right now XD He's kind of protective, though. Being the last official "adult Saiyan" he is concerned for the younger ones' safety. He'll warm up to Bulma as time goes on. Chi Chi is still going to be Goku's age. I have an idea on what I'm going to do for that meeting XD I got the idea of answering reviews like this from many other DBZ writers. Sometimes I get anonymous reviewers so it's easier to answer them this way, so I do it for everyone.

Dbzfan777: Thanks, I love my random ideas XD

KimiruMai: Lol, I try. You know I'm a sucker for cuteness X3

Gemini18: Haha, of course. Which I'm going to have to explain how the others do not change. I'll come up with some random answer.

TeamVegetaGirl123: Haha, yes, I do know. And also, hi stalker XD Just kidding, just kidding.

Cara2012: Yeah, like I said, I thought it would be cute :3 Especially since Vegeta was always so much older than him. There were times where I saw them interact where I was like "they'd be great brothers. Sibling rivalry and everything XD"

Middlekertz: Lol, I'm sorry, but my brain keeps spitting out new stories. Actually, I have three more BXV stories in my mind that I'll be starting soon and I already have so many going on as it is XD My thoughts are crazy, rofl.

KCMBR: Lol, Vegeta X Bulma is my favorite. I kind of like Bra X Goten, but the age difference always gets to me. I like the AU's where they're like the same age XD I really like Gohan X Videl, but that's just cuz I think Gohan with a girlfriend is so cute. He's like Goku innocent when it comes to women XD

* * *

><p>Night fell quickly as the Saiyans flew off in the direction of the Dragon Ball. Bulma was fighting to stay awake. She had just been sitting in Vegeta's arms the whole time. She had no idea why she was so tired while the ones who were doing the real work had so much energy left. <em>Well, they are aliens, <em>she thought as she leaned her head against Vegeta's chest.

Vegeta felt the slight pressure of her head against him and blushed so slightly that no one would have ever been able to see. _She's just as beautiful as in my visions, _he pondered as he shifted her so that she could rest more comfortably. Goku weakly flew over to Vegeta and looked down at Bulma.

"Veggie, why is she sleeping?" Goku asked.

"Because she's tired," Vegeta replied.

"But why? We didn't even train."

Vegeta shook his head. Goku was under the impression that people were only tired if they trained hard for hours, which they hadn't done today. Humans did not have the same conditioning as Saiyans. It was an inconvenience to need sleep, being a warrior race. For Vegeta himself, he'd rather not sleep at all if he could. Although he had not spent much time with Frieza, he did spend a little bit of time with him. He knew what he was capable of and his visions didn't help him. Speaking of, Vegeta had not had visions of Frieza since the destruction of his home, but he still had to live with what he saw. All of those memories of the visions consisted of rage, beatings, and killing. Saiyans respected life and only killed when they had to until Frieza came along. The prince wanted no part in that life, yet he still had to watch himself as a killer in the younger years of his life.

He snapped out of his thoughts to answer Goku's question. "Humans require, on average, eight hours of sleep. They don't have access to a lot of their ki, so they tire out quicker."

"Oh," Goku said. "Should we stop then?"

Nappa huffed in irritation. "Why bother? She seems fine."

"But she looks cold," Goku observed.

Vegeta looked down at Bulma who indeed looked a little pale. "We will have to find shelter."

"Oh come on!" Nappa shouted, making Bulma twitch a little bit in her sleep. "I swear; women are nothing but trouble."

Vegeta and Raditz smirked to each other. There was one vision Vegeta told Raditz about and it involved Nappa meeting someone in the not so distant future.

"We'll see about that," the prince said, confusing the older and youngest Saiyan. "For now, we stop for the night."

Nappa grunted and looked away in frustration before the four of them landed. Vegeta ordered the others to look for shelter as he sat with Bulma. He brushed her hair out of her face causing her to lean into his touch and wake up.

"Wha-Huh?" she muttered sleepily. When she opened her eyes, she saw Vegeta staring down at her. "What's going on?"

"You're tired," he stated. "The others are off looking for shelter."

Bulma rubbed her eyes and sat up. "They didn't have to go far. I have shelter with me." Vegeta raised an eyebrow at her. "No, seriously. My dad invented these things called capsules which can store anything. I have a capsule house with me."

Vegeta remembered hearing something about capsules, but he didn't believe they could fit a house in them. "I don't believe it."

"As opposed to aliens crash landing on the planet training to fight a tyrant?" Vegeta shrugged. He knew she'd gotten him there. "Alright, I'll show you."

She stood up and took a capsule out of a case from her backpack. Flashing a smirk of her own to Vegeta, she turned to the clearing and threw the capsule. A house appeared out of thin air. Bulma turned back to face Vegeta who looked shocked. "That is very interesting," he said in response.

"Told ya," Bulma said winking at him. "But what about the others? How far did they go and how will we tell them?"

Vegeta smirked. "Watch this." All of a sudden, Vegeta flared his ki. Bulma was in awe at the pale blue light surrounding him. She thought it was beautiful and part of her wanted to touch it. As soon as she tried, the glow disappeared. She looked at Vegeta's expression which turned sour. "You never touch ki of someone fully powered up."

"Why?" Bulma asked.

Vegeta sighed and created a small sphere in his hand and took hers in his other hand. "This is only a fourth of my power," Vegeta told her, holding her hand above it, but not close enough to touch.

It felt like holding your hand above a candle. "It's hot," Bulma stated, understanding why Vegeta wouldn't let her touch him. "But it's beautiful."

Vegeta looked taken aback at what she said. He had never thought of his power as beautiful, not after his visions. He frowned and turned away from her. The small, blue sphere disappeared. Bulma could sense his inner distress and moved to try and comfort him in some way. Before she could, the other three Saiyans had come back.

"We sensed your energy spike," Raditz said. "What's up?"

"See for yourself," Vegeta replied, quickly recovering from his and Bulma's encounter and motioning to the capsule house.

"Where did that come from?" Nappa grumbled.

"I brought it in a capsule," Bulma answered.

"Of course you did," Nappa muttered angrily. Vegeta shot him a look that instantly shut him up. "Is it safe?"

Bulma blanched and stared at the Saiyan in shock. "Of course it's safe. Do you think I'd be staying in it if it weren't? Besides, why would I offer you to stay in something that wasn't safe? It's just a house."

"Don't mind Nappa, miss," Raditz said. "He's just very moody."

"I am not!" Nappa shouted making Vegeta and Raditz laugh at his outburst.

"You were saying?" Vegeta taunted. Nappa crossed his arms and shut up as they all entered the house. Bulma showed them to some of the room so they could rest as well. Nappa took one room while Raditz and Goku took the other. There was one room left and Bulma offered it to her other guest. Vegeta shook his head and told her she needed to rest comfortably, so he took the couch. Bulma had heard many of her father's colleagues and their children say that whatever royalty they met was so selfish and arrogant. She could tell Vegeta had some arrogance, but he was far from selfish like she was.

Bulma brought him a pillow and blanket, which he didn't need but took anyway. He closed his eyes, though he was not asleep. She left him to go get herself ready for bed, and decided to grab a quick shower.

Nappa appeared next to the couch, but Vegeta didn't open his eyes. "What do you want, Nappa?" Vegeta asked.

"I want you to tell me why this girl is with us. We could have taken her radar and found the balls ourselves, without her. How do you know she won't double-cross us and take that wish for herself? You heard her; she was going to wish for something selfish."

Vegeta let out a frustrated sigh and stood up to face Nappa. "I cannot tell you how I know," he told him, "but I know for a fact that this girl won't betray us. I gave you direct orders, and I will give another if I feel you cannot learn to deal with the fact that she is here with us. Show her respect; she deserves it more than you know. That is a direct order and if you break it, we will have a problem. Understood?"

"Whatever," Nappa muttered before leaving the room. He walked past Raditz who was now standing at the archway to the living area with his arms crossed.

"Let me guess, the visions?" he asked. Vegeta nodded. "Why is she so important, Vegeta?"

Vegeta blushed slightly. He did not want to tell him that she was his destined mate, so he went another way. "She is as smart as her father. She'll create training equipment that will ultimately lead to Frieza's destruction by our hands."

Raditz was shocked, but impressed. He looked around the capsule house thinking that maybe she helped her father with this type of technology if she was so smart. "That's amazing." Vegeta nodded. Raditz observed him a few moments more and saw that he was deep in thought. "There's more, isn't there?"

Vegeta jumped at the question. "What are you talking about?" he asked while still blushing slightly.

"Do you like her?" Raditz asked. Vegeta jaw dropped in astonishment. How had Raditz been able to figure it out so quickly? "Do you?"

Vegeta looked away and decided to tell him the truth. "We end up together," he explained.

Raditz nodded. He had the feeling with how the prince was acting. He wasn't cold-hearted, but he wasn't this kind towards any stranger, even back on Planet Vegeta. "Then I will respect her as the princess, whether she knows or not."

Vegeta smirked. He could always count on Raditz to be there for him and he knew that he would keep his word. Nappa was questionable, but he wasn't going to harp on that now.

Vegeta dismissed Raditz and decided to go use what humans call a bathroom. He was so distracted by his own thoughts, that he didn't hear the water running. He went inside and saw that there was steam. He didn't understand why, but he looked around trying to figure it out. He didn't even hear the water turn off or hear the shower curtain open.

Bulma was shocked to see Vegeta standing in the middle of her bathroom while she was in the shower. She quickly grabbed her towel and stared at the silent prince. He didn't seem like he was there to spy on her or take a peek at her without her knowledge. He seemed genuinely curious about the steam in the room. Bulma cleared her throat to get his attention.

Vegeta spun around quickly at the sound of her voice and couldn't believe he had walked in on her. Visions could not have prepared him for this. Bulma was dripping wet, wrapped in a cloth Vegeta had never seen before. It looked like a really small blanket. When he realized he was staring, he couldn't help but let his face turn red. He was sure that she thought he was staring at her, so he looked away.

"I…I didn't know you were in here," he told her honestly.

"I know," Bulma replied. He slightly looked back at her, making her blush as well. "Um, I was going to come ask you when I got out if you were sure about the couch. I mean, the bed is huge, so if you wanted, we could both sleep there. That is, if you want to." She said the last part in a whisper.

Vegeta nodded to agree to stay with her for the night, though now his resolve was a little shaken. He wanted so much to re-enact some of his visions with her at the moment, though he knew it wasn't the time for that. She barely knew him despite the fact that he knew so much about her. He knew she would be terrified if he told her they were meant to be together as mates.

"Okay, great," Bulma said softly. "You can go wait there for me. I'll be there soon."

"Very well," Vegeta said, high-tailing it out of the bathroom. When he got to the room, he went into the bed immediately and closed his eyes, this time letting sleep take him.

Bulma entered not even fifteen minutes later and found that Vegeta was already asleep. She looked down at him before getting into the bed herself. _He's looks so peaceful_, she thought as she started to close her eyes. Then she felt something furry dancing on the skin of her arm and saw Vegeta's tail, gently swaying from side to side. She couldn't help but find him and his actions cute.

His tailed wrapped around her wrist and gently tugged her closer to him. Bulma was shocked since Vegeta was still asleep. It was almost as if the tail had a mind of its own. Vegeta didn't even twitch when she roughly hit his body.

Bulma took the time to study him. She was a scientist, after all. It amazed her to see how much muscle he had on him. He wasn't kidding when he said they'd been training for years. It made her worry, though, since Vegeta said they were STILL training to fight the creep that destroyed their planet. If they were this strong, how much stronger was the "tyrant" Vegeta mentioned. There were four of them against the one opponent. Did that mean together they wouldn't be able to defeat the "lizard?" The gears in Bulma's brain started turning immediately.

_After we find the Dragon Balls, I'll invite them to come stay with me and give them some training equipment, _she told herself. _Anything to help them defeat that monster._

Bulma didn't notice herself curling up against the Saiyan prince as she let her mind wander on equipment ideas. She left herself drift off to sleep as Vegeta's tail wrapped protectively around her waist.

* * *

><p>AN: Yay, another chapter. That bathroom scene has been in my mind all week, so I had to write this one. I'm sure everyone's all excited with the multiple updates XD


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.

I've noticed that I've been spelling Raditz's name wrong…I will be going back to fix that very soon because now it is bothering me XD But that will be after finals XD

Also, I like to advertise other writer's stories and today I'd like to say check out Hmfan24's Abducted and its sequel Giving Up Is Giving In. More BXV AU's YAY! XD

Asdfghjkl: I'm glad you love it! :D

Lonni: Thank you. Seems everyone feels that way :3

BulmaB69: I'm considering it; I just haven't planned it out yet. The whole thing about the visions will come out eventually.

KimiruMai: XD Yes, it was cute. Love his tail XD

Mathqueen2: Oh, I love that story! "Homeless Boy" is actually one of my favorite stories on fanfiction. Nappa will have his good moments eventually, promise. I just don't know how long it'll be. Lol, I love Goku's naivety too XD It's adorable. I love thinking of those lovely awkward moments for everyone. Of course there will be bumps in the road. I'm somewhat following the storyline, but I don't feel like re-watching Dragon Ball, so it will be way different XD

Dracarot: Yes, the Dragon Balls can only bring people back from the year before, so you pegged it. I love my plot twists and I love it when my readers figure out my ideas :D

Hmfan24: He will, just he has a stick up his you know right now XD I like cute moments, so expect lots of them :3

Dani555: Thank you for reading and reviewing. I'm really happy that you like it so much :3

Cara2012: I know! I wish the Saiyans were real just to pet their tails X3

SaiyanQueen22: Thanks, glad you like this one too :)

KCMBR: I will definitely check it out :) And it felt good giving Vegeta and Goku that brotherly bond.

TeamVegetaGirl123: It would be awesome to have a tail XD

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><p>"Where are we going now?" Nappa grumbled. He did not sleep well the night before, being used to the leafy mats he'd been sleeping on for years.<p>

"The radar," Bulma started while pointing in another direction, "says that way."

"How do you know that piece of junk even works?" Nappa growled.

Both Vegeta and Bulma glared at him. "It found you four, didn't it? That Dragon Ball you had was showing up, wasn't it?"

"So tell me how a girl like you can make radars like this?"

"Because she's a genius," Vegeta stated, getting irritated with Nappa.

"Um, how do you know that?" Bulma asked meekly, not sure how he knew what she was going to say.

Vegeta tensed, noticing his slip of the tongue. He decided to save face a bit and said, "It's obvious by the radar and the house you had that you are exposed to technology." It was a pathetic excuse, he knew, but he didn't care. He wasn't going to call attention to his visions anytime soon.

Bulma didn't buy it, but she didn't question him. "Well, thank you," she replied. "I can tell you're not the kind to give compliments out so freely, so I appreciate it."

Vegeta forced himself not to blush at the smile she flashed him and responded with a "hn."

"So we're heading out to the ocean," Raditz stated, as he remembered flying over the sea looking for the prince one time.

"I guess so," Bulma replied. "I haven't really been this far away from home before."

"So your parents are okay with you being out here?" Nappa asked with a quirked brow.

"Um," Bulma said nervously. The truth was that her parents never wanted her to go, so she left without telling them. Despite feeling comfortable around everyone but Nappa, she didn't feel safe enough to tell them the truth. "Well, they weren't happy about it, but they said as long as I check in, they won't send someone out looking for me. I probably should do that now, actually. Excuse me."

Bulma took out her phone for effect and went behind some trees. She sighed, looking at her phone, waiting for enough time to pass before she would go back.

"You don't have to lie, especially to me," Vegeta told her, appearing in the branches above her.

Bulma nearly shrieked, but quickly calmed herself down. She wasn't expecting to see him above her. "Vegeta, don't do that. You nearly gave me a heart attack." Vegeta smirked before slightly moving, appearing right next to her and catching her before she fell over from surprise. Bulma blushed at the fact that her back was pressed against Vegeta. "Vegeta?"

"Your parents do not know where you are," Vegeta stated matter-of-factly. "You just took your supplies and left."

"I…Please don't say anything," Bulma pleaded.

Vegeta frowned. "You're afraid of us."

He sounded so sad, Bulma noted, but she didn't know why. Well, she did, but they were all strangers that she had just met. Wouldn't he have trust issues with her? Nappa did already.

"I'm not afraid of you," Bulma told him honestly. "It's just that we only met yesterday."

Vegeta's frown didn't leave his face as he walked away from her. Bulma watched him walk off, highly confused by his reaction. She walked back over to the group and asked if they were ready to go. Goku cheered about how they were going on an adventure. Nappa looked over to the prince who just nodded at the girl. He looked over to Raditz questioningly. The other Saiyan just shrugged and went back to watching his little brother who was practicing his flying a little bit more before they continued. At the rate he was going, Raditz would have to carry his little brother himself.

"Kakarot, knock it off. You'll wear yourself out."

"Aw, but Raditz, I think I'm getting the hang of it," Goku replied, before falling two feet to the ground.

"You were saying?" Raditz muttered pinching the bridge of his nose.

While Raditz dealt with Goku, Vegeta picked Bulma silently and took off into the sky. The trip was quiet. None of the Saiyans attempted to make conversation and Bulma couldn't stand the silence. She looked up at Vegeta who wasn't even paying her any mind. It was almost as if he was giving her the silent treatment.

"Vegeta, I didn't mean to upset you," Bulma whispered. "What did I say wrong?"

Vegeta shook his head and that was all she got out of him. Bulma sighed. She had said something that hurt him. What she had said wasn't a lie. They were strangers in a way. Then it hit Bulma. Vegeta seemed to know her better than she knew him. It was strange since he didn't have any knowledge of her technology other than her car, which he knew was going to explode. It seemed that Vegeta had a knack for knowing what was going to happen before it did, more than a talent at "reading people." But that was impossible; wasn't it?

"Vegeta, what else do you know about me?" she asked him, the other Saiyans looking over to the two.

Vegeta stared down at her with an expressionless face. "We are strangers," he stated with a forced voice. "_We only met yesterday_."

Bulma didn't know why her own words hurt so much but they did and she could now understand how much she hurt the Saiyan prince. "Right," she mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

Vegeta could hear the disappointment in her voice, but didn't say anything. He knew what she said was true, but it was hard for him. He was used to seeing her when he dreamt. He constantly thought of her while awake. It was hard for him to accept that she was not his mate yet and probably wouldn't be for a while.

"Hey guys, look," Goku said pointing down to a turtle on its back.

"Kakarot, it's just a turtle," Raditz stated.

"But it's in trouble," Goku said adamantly. "We need to help him."

Vegeta sighed in frustration. "Fine, let's go help the turtle," he muttered.

"Yay!" Goku said, charging over to the prince and landing on his back. "Thank you, Veggie."

Vegeta smirked. "No problem, kid."

After they righted the turtle, it surprised them by speaking to them and explained that he lost his way to the sea.

"Hey, we're going to the sea," Goku said. "Maybe we can help you get there."

"Thank you," the turtle said. "I need to get to my master."

"This is so weird," Bulma said quietly. She caught Vegeta's eye before he looked away from her. He still hadn't said much to her since the flight. Bulma actually felt hurt by his dismissal of her presence.

"I guess I'm carrying the reptile," Nappa said, "since you're carrying the girl and Raditz has to focus on Kakarot. Unless you decide to leave the girl here. I'm all for that option."

Bulma was about to retort, but Vegeta marched up to Nappa and just glared at him. It was a silent reminder of his orders from the previous night, but the message was lost on Bulma who just went over to when Raditz and Goku were.

"My name's Goku," the little boy said to the turtle. "And this is my big brother, Raditz."

"Nice to meet you all," the turtle said happily.

"We should get going now, since we have our own errands to run as well," Raditz stated.

"Okay!" Goku chimed happily climbing onto his big brother.

Nappa rolled his eyes and picked up the turtle. Vegeta walked over to Bulma and picked her up. His face remained expressionless and intense. Bulma was starting to feel more nervous about this.

* * *

><p>When they got to the beach, the turtle told them to wait for him. The elder Saiyans reluctantly agreed, but Goku was so excited when the turtle said that he would bring his master back to meet him.<p>

While the turtle was away, Bulma touched Vegeta's shoulder silently asking if they could talk. Vegeta nodded to her and the two of them walked further away from the group.

"Yes?" Vegeta asked monotonously.

"What's wrong, Vegeta?" Bulma questioned. "You've been ignoring me all day. I only spoke the truth. I don't know you, but it feels like you know me. Please, tell me what's going on. Like you said, I'm open-minded and I'm sure I'll believe you. Please just tell me why it hurt you so much when I said we were strangers."

Vegeta turned away from her. "It's nothing, Bulma. You didn't ask to meet us, so whatever you want, fine. If you want to hide stuff from us, I don't care. If you don't trust us and fear us, that's your problem."

"I don't fear you!" Bulma shouted at him. She knew she told him this before. "I trust you, okay. I just don't trust Nappa and I'm unsure of Raditz. Goku is a little kid, but he could still snap me like a twig. Do you know how troubling that is? To be around strangers who could kill you in an instant?"

"Then why did you accept my invitation?" Vegeta snapped.

"Because I wanted to!" Bulma retorted. Both Bulma and Vegeta stared at one another in anger. Bulma's expression softened though when she saw hurt and confusion in Vegeta's eyes.

"'Wanted' implies that you don't want to anymore," Vegeta said calmly. "If that is the case then just leave." He wouldn't let her know that every word he was saying was killing him.

Vegeta turned and started to walk away from her and whatever his visions had been telling him. "Wait!" Bulma exclaimed grabbing his arm. Vegeta stared down at her void of all emotion. "I never said I wanted to leave."

"Well you clearly don't want to stay," Vegeta stated shaking her off of him.

Bulma didn't understand. This stern man couldn't be the same guy she met the day before who was so kind and genuinely curious about Earth's comforts. He definitely wasn't acting like the same guy whose tail grabbed onto her last night. Oh, she had forgotten to ask him about that.

"I have a question," Bulma said trying to change the subject. Vegeta said nothing but let her go on. "Last night your tail seemed to be moving on its own and took hold of me. I didn't know how that was possible since you were asleep."

Vegeta's expression became sad again and Bulma realized that his cold attitude towards her had to be some kind of defense mechanism. He turned away from her and started to walk away. "Vegeta?"

"Tell the others I will be back soon," he stated before flying off.

Bulma was at a loss for what had happened, but she decided to do what he asked. When she got back to the others, there was an old man giving Goku a small cloud and giving a Dragon Ball over to Raditz. Raditz and Nappa looked over to Bulma and saw that Vegeta was not with her.

"Where'd that brat run off to this time?" Nappa asked trying to hide his concern.

"He said he'd be back soon," Bulma replied. "I just don't get it. One minute we're arguing, the next I'm asking him why his tail curled around me last night, then he gets upset and flies off."

Both Nappa and Raditz gasped. Bulma wasn't sure why they reacted that way. Then Raditz asked, "What were you two arguing about?"

"Just how we're strangers and you guys make me nervous."

Raditz frowned and shook his head. He turned to Nappa. "I'll go talk to him." Then he flew off.

Bulma looked over to Nappa who was studying her. "What?" she snapped.

"Nothing," he replied. "Just…do me a favor. Try not to say anything like that to Vegeta again, whether it's true or not."

"Why?" Bulma asked. "What the hell is going on?"

Nappa sighed. "You're his destined mate."

* * *

><p>Raditz found Vegeta sulking atop a mountain. He landed next to the prince who was looking out to the sunset. "I'm not going to talk about it," Vegeta stated leaving no room for debate.<p>

"That's fine," Raditz said sitting down next to Vegeta. "But you should tell her about the visions or she'll keep hurting you, even if it's by accident."

"I don't care," Vegeta admitted.

"You will if she keeps rejecting you. What happens if she leaves and never comes back, or finds someone else? Are you prepared to deal with that pain?"

"I'm handling it now, aren't I?" Vegeta snapped.

Raditz stood up. "Look, I'm not going to force you to do anything, but I'd really rather not see you let yourself be destroyed by this matter. I have always seen you as my family and I would hate to see you hurt yourself more."

"I'll be fine. I'll be joining you again later tonight. Just go back."

"As you wish." And with that, Raditz left the prince alone.

* * *

><p>Bulma had set up the capsule house again for the night. She was waiting up for Vegeta after everyone fell asleep. She would have never guessed any of this and yet it still made little sense to her.<p>

"_But we just met!" she shouted at Nappa._

"_That doesn't matter to a Saiyan," he told her. "Our bonds are different from a human's. We are connected with our mate since birth, or at least that is how we are taught. When we meet them, our bodies react on their own, case and point Vegeta's tail. Since we don't usually know to begin with who our mates are, something has to tell us. And now you've said something that the prince has taken as a rejection. When a Saiyan is rejected by their mate…let's just say, it doesn't end very well for them. I can tell you now, he's going to try to push you away and that's not good either. Eventually it will lead to depression and possibly death."_

_Bulma gasped. "Why?"_

"_Because being rejected by one's mate is an attack against a Saiyan's pride, so they attempt to redeem that pride by acting like it doesn't matter. But by continuously distancing oneself from their mate is like losing said mate. Saiyans who have met their mates or have become mated cannot live without their mate, at least not for long."_

_Raditz returned after Nappa explained everything to Bulma. "Raditz, where's Veggie?" Goku asked._

_Raditz shrugged. "He's just getting some air. He won't be back until late tonight." He looked over to Bulma with a frown. Walking past her, he whispered, "If I were you, I'd wait up tonight."_

And so she had, asking herself a series of questions. Why hadn't Vegeta told her the truth? Well, she had rejected him, so he was saving face. How could she, a human, be his mate? Well, there weren't any other female Saiyans, so if not her, did that mean that Vegeta would have ended up alone? The question made her feel guilty. Sure he had Nappa, Raditz, and Goku, but he had lost his entire family. He probably felt like he was alone already. Then she showed up and he seemed playful…happy even. And now she had to hurt him. Then the last question flashed through her mind. Where the hell was he?

She was answered with the door opening and closing. She saw him enter, but he didn't seem to see her. He looked like he was a zombie. Then Bulma noticed the cuts and bruises. Just what had he been doing out there? This couldn't have been the way he trained, could it? The thought made Bulma's heart clench.

"Vegeta?" she called out, but he didn't respond. She was about to say his name again when he passed out. "Vegeta!" she shouted, waking up the other Saiyans.

Nappa let out an irritated growl. "Such an idiot. It looks like he forgot to eat again."

Bulma looked at him in shock. All he could think about was the food? What about the cuts? Vegeta had to be prone to infection just like everyone else and yet they didn't seem fazed.

Raditz noticed Bulma's look of confusion mixed with disgust. "Saiyans heal differently from humans, Bulma. He's fine, but if he didn't eat or drink anything after putting himself through some training, he just drained himself of energy. He should be fine by morning."

"Well, alright then," she said still unsure. "Can someone help me get him to the bed?"

"I will," Nappa decided picking Vegeta off the floor. He followed Bulma to her room and gently put Vegeta down and left.

* * *

><p>Bulma didn't care what they said about his injuries. They had to have been downplaying it to keep what was left of their prince's pride intact. To Bulma, being hurt didn't mean you were weak like the Saiyans seemed to think. She took out the first aid kit and started cleaning Vegeta's cuts. She didn't notice Vegeta's eyes crack open.<p>

"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice so distrusting.

It took Bulma by surprise. Out of nowhere, Vegeta was acting frightened. It's not like she would hurt him, or could hurt him. Maybe being vulnerable for a Saiyan meant punishment or something, she didn't know. "I'm just cleaning out your cuts so they don't get infected."

"Just go away," Vegeta said in a hoarse voice, again taking Bulma by surprise.

"I'm not just going to leave you hurt," she told him.

Vegeta shook his head. "Please get away from me," he pleaded. "I can't bear it."

Now he was talking as if he were delirious. "What can't you bear? I mean, you're the strongest guy I know. This couldn't have hurt you this badly."

Vegeta closed his eyes. "I need for you to stay away from me."

Bulma tensed. Nappa had warned her about this. He wanted to push her away, but she refused to let that happen. Still, she didn't know if she could feel the same way, either. Would she just be hurting him in the long run? She didn't want to think about that now. Instead, Bulma kissed his forehead and said, "Not gonna happen."

She got up to throw something away but heard Vegeta whisper out loud in his delirious state, "Just like my vision."

* * *

><p>AN: Yay, a long chapter :D And uh-oh…Vegeta just blurted out his secret. How will Bulma react to that?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters

Sorry for the long wait. After proofreading all of the other chapters, I realized I ended last chapter on a terrible cliffhanger….oops. Anyway, I'm dedicating this chapter to Cara2012. Thanks for keeping me entertained while I'm laid up ^_^

Also, please forgive me…I barely remember the episode with Oolong and I'm trying to get to a certain point this chapter, so I'll probably rush through that whole thing XD But I didn't want to leave Oolong out.

Smalsa: There's gonna be a lot of drama. That's all I'm going to say right now.

BulmaB69: Maybe :3

Dracarot: The first thing, yeah pretty much. No, she won't think it's a bluff.

Mathqueen2: Yeah, well, when you feel rejected, like poor Veggie, you tend to do crazy things.

RaiynetheHedgehog: Aw, thank you very much. I like being creative :3 And I love writing so that I can entertain everyone who's just as bored or as avid a fan as I am :D I'll check out you story :) Don't worry; Vegeta will be okay…eventually.

KimiruMai: Yup, cuteness :3 And yes, Vegeta is a big mouth for blabbing his secret, but let's just say…well, I don't want to spoil the chapter.

Sami199: I hope you won't be disappointed.

Cara2012: I didn't want Vegeta to kill Roshi XD If she had to flash him…well, that wouldn't end well. He still needs around to teach Goku the Kamehameha…though it'll happen much differently. Since Goku is already trained, he won't be training with Roshi, but he will still meet Krillin and everything. I just thought of a whole bunch of scenarios for this story since I barely remember Dragon Ball now XD

WhatWhat123: Well, maybe a little, but not much.

Hmfan24: I'm glad you find it interesting. It'll get more interesting after this chapter.

Chaos in the sky: Thanks. I will. Glad you like it :)

KCMBR: Glad you loved it. I will try to meet standards :D

Murdrax: Thanks so much. That's always nice to hear…er, read XD

* * *

><p>Bulma blinked a few times to register what Vegeta had said. "Visions?" she repeated. Vegeta just grumbled as he started to lose consciousness again. Bulma rushed over to him attempting to hold him up. "Vegeta," she said desperately. "What do you mean by 'visions?'"<p>

Vegeta muffled a yawn and turned over. "I can't tell you. Bardock said that I had to pretend like everything is fine. I'm a prince. I can't let something like that bother me."

"Vegeta," Bulma tried again. "You can tell me about the visions. I won't tell anyone. I swear."

Vegeta made a sound as if he were considering it and then said, "Fine, but you can't tell Nappa, Kakarot, or Bulma, Raditz."

Bulma blinked incredulously. He thought she was Raditz. But before he acted like she were her. He even told her to leave him alone. _Oh my Kami, he's hallucinating. _The guilt consumed Bulma as she weakly said, "Okay, Vegeta. I swear I won't tell them."

Vegeta nodded into the pillow. "I've been having visions of her since I was twelve, Raditz. I know I should have told you. I know your dad told you the visions would replay themselves over and over until they drove someone mad. It wasn't that way with her. I found myself growing comfortable with the visions, our lives together. I can't stand the fact that she doesn't know me…she…she hates me, Raditz. I can't stand it."

"H-Have you tried to talk to her about this?" Bulma asked. "I mean, why haven't you told her about the visions?"

Vegeta chuckled. "Your father said not to tell anyone. You are the only one that will know until the day I die. Which…could be soon. I don't know. I mean, she doesn't want to be here."

"How do you know that?" Bulma pressed. She knew he had said it earlier, but she wanted to hear what he was truly thinking.

"She fears our strength," Vegeta said. "She's afraid that we would hurt her. How could she want to be with someone she fears? That the whole universe fears."

"The whole universe doesn't even know you," Bulma told him. "How would they fear you?"

"They don't," Vegeta admitted, "but had Frieza taken me, they would have. Raditz, I had to see myself take life just for the sake of taking life. There was no honor in the fight. Frieza had me purging planets since I was six. I would have been the most feared killer in the universe and I have to live with those visions for the rest of my existence. Just because I didn't become a killer…I'm a terrible person because I would have done all of that."

Bulma had tears streaming down her face. Vegeta, he was so kind, so innocent in a way, yet he was so tainted by images and hurt by a perceived rejection. She couldn't believe any of this.

"Vegeta, will you consider telling her about the visions?" Bulma asked.

Vegeta chuckled again. "Why are you being so adamant today, Raditz? Earlier you said you wouldn't push me. Do you think that just because I'm in this weakened state that I will concede? She is not my mate. She does not wish to be my mate. We are strangers and that's how it should stay. Besides, she doesn't belong with me. She belongs with some human, one that can't hurt her. If that will make her happy, then I will step aside."

"But you'll die," Bulma said, her voice growing weak.

Vegeta grunted an affirmative. "Not until I defeat Frieza. My drive for revenge on that monster will keep me alive. Then, once he's dead, I will happily go to the grave. It's not like I have anything to live for. The planet, my parents…gone. Even if we can wish the planet back, I doubt we can get all of those people back. Kakarot loves it here. You could make a life here. And I already told you about that vision with Nappa. I think we should just give the girl her wish and then bow out. Her happiness is what matters now, not mine."

Bulma was struggling to breathe. She had to get away from him. Bulma got up from the bed and left the room. Nappa was waiting outside her door and she crashed into him. Raditz was standing beside him.

"I never would have guessed," Nappa said to Raditz, ignoring that Bulma crashed into him.

"Now do you see what he's been dealing with?" Raditz asked the eldest Saiyan. Nappa sighed and nodded. He took his hand and rubbed his head to distract himself from his confusion and worry.

"Well, at least we know he would have admitted it to you, third-class." The insult held a lot less venom and was said more as a term of endearment.

Nappa walked back to the room where he was staying and slammed the door shut. Raditz looked down to Bulma who had tears streaming down her face. "What happens next is up to you," he told her. "But I'm telling you, if you hurt him, I don't care if he wants your happiness. I see him as my brother, and as his guard I'm bound to protect him. I will kill you if he has another night like this."

Bulma was shocked at how Raditz reacted, but she could understand now. It didn't help her fear of being snapped like a twig, but she would overlook it. Vegeta said her happiness was all that mattered. No…Vegeta's happiness was all that mattered, at least to her.

* * *

><p>Vegeta woke up and kept his hand over his eyes. He slowly squinted into the light that made his eyes water a bit. When his eyes adjusted, he fully opened them and was surprised to see Bulma curled up beside him. He had no idea when she came into the room. He vaguely remembered talking to Raditz after he nearly killed himself. He was so lost in thought trying to remember what he said during the night and didn't see Bulma eyeing his pondering form.<p>

She studied him for a little bit. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his hand to his chin. He was very refined yet very guarded. Bulma could see how handsome he was, but she didn't know him and she was afraid to give him hope if she would only end up breaking his heart. But then again, she already was. And he did say that in his visions, they did become mates. Maybe she could meet him halfway for now. It's not like they had to be in a serious relationship, but they could start out slow. Then, maybe, just maybe, she would be able to love him the way he needed.

She looked up to his eyes, but they were now very distant and very pale. _Is he having a vision now?_ she wondered as the color returned to his eyes. He looked so hurt by whatever he saw and he started breathing heavily as if he were about to have an emotional breakdown.

Meanwhile, the thoughts going through Vegeta's head were painful for him. He had seen Bulma with another before him. He recognized the character from the group that was going to be centered around little Goku. It angered him that his visions would show her as his mate and then inform him of a long-term relationship years later. He didn't know if he could or should try to change that vision, or let it slowly kill him until he faced Frieza. That reminded him; he would still have visions of the tyrant, but not about their battle. It worried him. _Too many things to worry about_, he told himself and shook his head. He barely registered Bulma's hand on his shoulder. He gasped and then looked down to her. Her eyes were shining with worry, and Vegeta scoffed and attempted to pull away from her. He couldn't move.

He looked back down at her incredulously. She was grasping onto his arm for dear life, her grip surprisingly strong. And now she had tears streaming down her face.

Bulma knew, after pretending to be Raditz, that she couldn't tell him that she knew he had visions. She decided to go a different route. "How could you do this to yourself?" she sobbed. "Do you know how worried I was?"

Vegeta was a little shocked that she was so upset about his appearance. It shouldn't matter to her. It still touched him that she did act like she cared but, as Nappa predicted, he was going to push her away. "Hn. Did the others seem worried?" he scoffed.

"Well, they said you would be fine, but-" Vegeta cut her off.

"Then you had no reason to be worried about me," he told her. "If the three Saiyans who have been around me for years didn't see any reason to be concerned, then a _stranger _shouldn't worry about me either. No one needs to worry about me. Now let go!"

"No," Bulma replied challengingly. "I am not letting you go, Vegeta. You need to rest today, no flying and no training."

Vegeta forcibly yanked his arm away from Bulma, nearly knocking her over. Bulma looked up to Vegeta in sadness. He took it as a look of pity and glared at her. He let out an animalistic growl and then disappeared from the room. Bulma just stared at where he used to be in shock. He wasn't acting like he was trying to push her away. Vegeta was acting like he hated her.

* * *

><p>Bulma got dressed and then went outside of the capsule house only to see that the Saiyans had already gone out. She closed the house back up and then turned to face the Saiyans. They all had serious expressions plastered on their faces, except for Goku who was chattering excitedly about the new day. Bulma was surprised when she saw Vegeta pick up the small boy. He looked expressionless on the outside, but she could see the sadness in his eyes. She could tell Nappa was telling the truth. Vegeta already looked lifeless.<p>

Raditz walked over to Bulma and held his hand out to her. Bulma was very wary to take it. She looked over to Vegeta who narrowed his eyes at her and started to levitate. Bulma sighed and reluctantly took Raditz's hand.

"Where are we going, girl?" Vegeta sneered.

Goku frowned when he heard Vegeta's voice. It sounded like his brother was in pain. "Veggie, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Kakarot," he said a little nicer. He didn't want to worry the boy. Kakarot twisted in Vegeta's arms and forced a hug upon the older Saiyan. Vegeta's eyes widened and he stopped flying, hovering in the air.

"Don't be sad, Veggie," Kakarot said. "Whatever you're upset about will be okay."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Vegeta's face as he hugged the little boy back. "I know, kid," he said a little humorously.

Raditz looked down to Bulma who looked like she was going to burst into tears. He could see the longing in her eyes and he realized that the prince was not the only one who was hurting. If he kept pushing her away, she would find another just to try to quench the hurt. Raditz had observed humans a little bit when they first came to the planet and he did learn about their behaviors. She didn't have to love whoever she ended up with. She would just need someone to reassure her that she had worth, something the prince needed as well. Raditz shook his head. The two teens were breaking, and he couldn't do anything about it.

All of a sudden, Vegeta turned to face Bulma and Raditz felt her pulse speed up. "Where are we going?" Vegeta asked in a softer tone.

Bulma hesitated to look away from him to the dragon radar. She was afraid that if she looked down, he would disappear. Vegeta picked up on her fear, but he didn't understand it. He knew it wasn't being directed to him, but what else was there. Was it because she was with Raditz and not him? "We need to head north," Bulma told him. His eyes widened for a split second. She sounded as sad as he felt, though he knew how to hide it.

"Then let's go," Vegeta stated before turning away from her.

The Saiyans picked their speed back up and continued fly for a while. Raditz could feel the tension between them and tried to come up with a plan to get Vegeta to drop his guard. Then Raditz whispered in Bulma's ear. "From now on, call him Prince Vegeta when addressing him. Trust me; that'll get to him."

Before Bulma could ask why, the radar went crazy. Everyone looked down and saw a village. "Well, that's as good a place as any to start," Nappa tried to joke.

"Let's check it out," Raditz suggested. Vegeta only nodded.

* * *

><p>When they landed in the village, they startled some of the villagers.<p>

"Oh no," one of the townspeople cried, "Oolong the Terrible has called for backup!"

"Who?" Bulma tried to ask.

The townspeople were two busy freaking out and, in that moment, Vegeta was starting to have an anxiety attack. It reminded him of the visions he had of Frieza's plans for him. Bulma was the only one that seemed to notice Vegeta's defensive position. She, of course, went over to him and took his hand.

"Are you okay?" Bulma asked.

"Fine," Vegeta lied. Bulma frowned because his voice sounded hoarse.

"Who is Oolong the Terrible?" Goku asked, bringing some old woman's attention to him.

"He is a terrible demon who kidnaps young women and forces them to clean his home," the old woman told them. "He has also been trying to force a young girl in the village to marry him."

"That's…disturbing," Bulma said barely containing her disgust. Just then, Bulma noticed the Dragon Ball hanging around the woman's neck. "Oh, hey, you have a Dragon Ball!"

The woman looked confused. "A what?"

Bulma took out one of the spheres from her backpack. "A Dragon Ball. We're collecting them."

The woman flashed her a smile. "I would give you mine, but this treasure has been passed down in my family for generations. I'm sorry, miss."

Bulma didn't know how to respond to that, but Vegeta had an idea. "What if we were to get rid of this 'demon' of yours? Would you consider giving us the ball then?"

The woman put her hand to her chin in thought before she nodded. "Knock yourself out, but Oolong the Terrible is very strong."

"I highly doubt that," Nappa muttered. "Where can we find him?"

"Well, he frequents little Pochawompa's home," the old woman said shaking her head. "Such a shame. She's the little girl he wants."

"Why does he want her?" Goku asked innocently.

The elderly woman patted his head. "Such a sweet little boy. You should be very careful."

Goku smiled at her. "Oh, you don't need to worry. I can handle anything." Raditz and Vegeta couldn't help but smirk at the little one's pride. Goku turned to them. "Let's go see the monster. I wanna fight it."

Vegeta chuckled. "Fine, Kakarot. I have the feeling you'll be more than enough to take out this 'demon.'"

* * *

><p>Bulma followed the four Saiyans to the little girl's house and the demon was already there. He was the stereotypical red demon with horns. <em>Really? <em>Bulma asked herself. She was a little frightened when Goku went to fight him, but she realized that her worries were pointless when Goku came out to be the victor. The biggest surprise was that the demon turned into a pig.

"Damn it, if only I could have held that form," he grumbled.

Raditz and Nappa couldn't help but laugh at the predicament. Vegeta rolled his eyes at their antics. He looked to Goku who was searching for the monster he had just defeated. Goku looked over to Vegeta with confused eyes. "I didn't mean to make the monster go away," he said.

Vegeta just looked down to the pig who was muttering some stuff about being a shapeshifter. He ignored the part where Bulma had invited the pig to come on their journey because of his shapeshiting abilities. Vegeta didn't care either way, but Nappa was protesting because he didn't want to carry the "annoyingly chatty piece of bacon."

"Just do it, Nappa!" Vegeta snapped. All he was thinking about now was getting the Dragon Ball from the old woman and moving on.

The older woman was very grateful and didn't mind handing the Dragon Ball over to little Goku.

"Thank you, ma'am," Goku said happily.

Bulma whispered over to Raditz, "I hope that means he knows the difference between guys and girls now?"

Raditz couldn't help but chuckle. "We can only hope."

* * *

><p>"Why am I going with you again?" Oolong muttered as the Saiyans took off.<p>

"We could always bring you back to the village so that they could choose your punishment," Vegeta stated without any emotion as he carried Goku. Oolong huffed and crossed his arms, but said nothing. "That's what I thought."

"So where are we headed?" Nappa asked Bulma. He seemed to have warmed up to her ever since he found out about what she was to Vegeta.

Bulma checked the radar. "Further north."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" Oolong exclaimed. "You want to go into Diablo Desert? That's crazy!"

"Why?" Raditz asked, narrowing his eyes at the pig.

Oolong sighed. "Man, you guys definitely aren't from around here. That's where Yamcha the Desert Bandit is said to hang out." Raditz and Nappa shrugged, yet were unaware to the panicked expression on their prince's face.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, sorry that was so different from the show, but I'm pretty much just skipping around the Dragon Ball series (because we all want to get to the Martial Arts Tournaments and then after :D Or is that just me?). I'm sure everyone could tell who will be appearing next chapter…great…


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.

Okay, so I don't remember any of the meeting with Yamcha, so since it's AU, I'm pretty much just changing everything (and probably going to take two chapters). I'm also changing the timing of some of the events from the show XD

Also, I know it's been a long time for this, and many other stories, but I do have a ton of excuses that I won't bore you with. Some of you out there already know the craziness that is my daily life…But in a week or so, all I'll be able to do is write, and I hope you will not be disappointed.

KaitAstrophe95: Thanks. I hope the scene will be worthwhile.

Shizuka23: Have no idea what I'm going to do with Nappa yet. Sorry it takes me so long to update. I'm great with DBZ stories, but starting in DB really limited me XD

NNP: Aw, thank you :) I try my best.

KimiruMai: Um, sorry for taking so long to update ^^' And it has to happen :p

Iluvveggie: Well, that's a given, but it does add some drama since Vegeta knows who he is.

Lady Weavile: Lol, yeah. My knee is doing better. Had my last physical therapy session the other day. Now I just have the other surgery to get through. Yeah…Yamcha can do that to people -_-

Middlekertz: Vegeta's always together XD

RaiynetheHedgehog: No, if he blasted his head off, I don't think that would be a good thing. Besides, he's not the same guy that he would have been after serving Frieza.

WhatWhat123: Yeah, unfortunately.

DaniellaDBZ4ever: They'll have a cutesy scene soon :)

Cara2012: Yeah…well, has to be some drama. Lol

DBZer16: Yup, there're differences, and he was also emotionally distressed at the time. I'm glad you don't mind the slight OOC.

Sky Daybreak: I'm glad you like it :D

Guest: I shall try. Eh, Bulma was willing to show skin for the Dragon Ball. I highly doubt she would have screamed at Vegeta being in there XD But that would have been funny. Yamucha won't ruin everything. Remember, when they first meet, he's the enemy and afraid of girls. They don't date until the end of the season, but there will be drama, you can bet on that.

Aleaster: Well, I guess she wouldn't be concerned with the purging concept because it never happened, but yeah, she's not thinking about the fact that there is an enemy out there. And since the last time I wrote this, I've gotten better on the descriptive writing and fight scenes, so I'm hoping you enjoy this :3

Princess Caramel: Perfect sentiments XD Vegeta is awesome; I agree :3

Flee27: Yeah…but hey, Vegeta's confused as well. Visions are confusing (not that I would know or anything XD).

* * *

><p>Vegeta was panicking on the inside, though he reigned in his expression so that the others wouldn't know. He hadn't expected the guy named Yamcha to come into their lives so soon. He felt like he was minutes away from losing Bulma, especially after the way he had been treating her since the day before, and he didn't know what to do about it. His pride wouldn't let him act otherwise.<p>

He didn't realize that his energy was fluctuating slightly, but Nappa and Raditz could feel it. They looked to each other nervously. If their prince was worried about something in the desert, then they had to worry.

"Maybe we should wait a night before we enter the desert," Nappa suggested, speaking loudly over the sound of the wind.

Vegeta felt relief at such a suggestion. If he took Nappa up on that offer, he'd be able to give himself another night to emotionally prepare himself. But of course, he felt the need to play it off. "What's wrong? Can't handle a little heat?"

Nappa sighed and said, "Maybe I'm just getting older, prince."

"Well, then, maybe we should stop for the night," Vegeta agreed, happy his trainer didn't call him out on his attitude. "Any complaints?"

"I've got none," Oolong replied. "But where are we gonna go?"

"So are we landing now?" Bulma asked with a yawn.

Vegeta looked over to the girl currently in Raditz's arms and frowned. She looked completely exhausted. It solidified his decision to stop for the day. He may have had selfish motives for delaying their journey for a few hours, but Bulma truly needed the rest. "Yes, we are," he confirmed before starting to descend. Raditz and Nappa followed suit, and when they landed, placed down the passengers they were carrying.

Bulma took out her capsule house and threw it down so that they could go inside. Oolong looked at the small house in amazement. He decided not to ask questions when he met the glare of the Saiyan prince. Part of him was wondering what they guy's problem was. He didn't seem like the friendliest person to deal with.

* * *

><p>Everyone went inside and rooms were divided up again, only this time Vegeta opted to take the couch making Bulma frown. Oolong, their newest addition, was going to sleep on the floor somewhere in a sleeping bag. When it was dinner time, everyone ate in silence except for Goku, who was chatting everyone's ear off. He would just be answered by the occasional grunt from one of the three other Saiyans. Bulma stayed strangely silent and watched Vegeta through the corner of her eyes as she ate.<p>

Vegeta was barely eating, just enough to settle his hunger but nothing more than that. He excused himself by pushing his plate away from him and moved to the living area couch. Bulma's expression saddened and she found that she herself had no appetite. She cleaned her mouth off with her napkin and pushed her dish away before getting up and making her way over to Vegeta.

Raditz and Nappa watched both teenagers cautiously and in interest. They had no idea what Bulma would be able to do, with how Vegeta had been acting, so they just wanted to observe. Their attention was drawn elsewhere, though, to the youngest Saiyan among them.

"I can't wait to see the dragon and make our wish," Goku said happily catching Oolong's attention in addition to his older brother and Nappa.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…what are you talking about kid?" the pig asked.

"Oh, well we're looking for the Dragon Balls to wish our planet back," Goku replied with a grin. His tail was swaying back and forth vigorously. "I can't wait to see it. It would be an adventure."

Raditz looked over to his brother in alarm. "Kakarot, enough!" he snapped.

Goku looked up at his older brother and tilted his head in confusion. "What did I do?"

Raditz sighed and muttered a "nothing." He couldn't be angry with his naïve little brother, but now the pig had knowledge of what they were doing. Oolong was no doubt a thug and would take every advantage he could to get an easy life. Stealing Dragon Balls was not above him. "Just go wash up."

"Okay!" Goku chimed with enthusiasm before running off to the bathroom.

"Hm, easy kid," Oolong pondered. "Your parents must be relieved."

Raditz's eyes narrowed at the pig. "Get one thing straight…never, and I mean NEVER, mention our parents again."

With that, Raditz stormed off to find his little brother, his one reminder of the family they had lost. Oolong looked over to Nappa who continued to eat as if nothing had happened. "What did I say? They have a bad relationship with their parents?"

Nappa stopped eating long enough to say, "No," and then continued to eat, ignoring Oolong's confused expression and forcing himself not to think about their lost home.

* * *

><p>Bulma, oblivious to the exchange in the kitchen, sat down next to Vegeta. He was staring straight ahead and didn't even acknowledge that she had sat down beside him. Somehow, though, Bulma could tell that he wasn't ignoring her. His eyes seemed distant, like he was having another vision. By the frown on his face, she could tell that it was something terrible and she wanted to bring him out of it. She raised her hand nervously and stroked his hair slowly.<p>

Vegeta jumped at the sudden contact. He had never been pulled out of his trance before, mostly because whenever he had a vision, he would go off alone to ponder the vision's significance. He turned to find who had pulled him away from yet another painful vision of Frieza and the fate of his planet. The creep was still looking for him and would stop at nothing to find him. Although he was much stronger than he would have been as a child, Vegeta still had no desire to set foot on the tyrant's ship even if his life depended on it. He was surprised when he saw that Bulma had pulled him away from the torment of his mind. "W-what are you doing?" Vegeta asked, still in a type of shock from being pulled out of a vision before it ended.

Bulma retracted her hand and blushed. "It's just that…well, you seemed troubled and I wanted to help," she explained, though completely kept the topic of her knowing about his visions secret. "Whatever is bothering you, you can talk to me."

Vegeta's expression soured, and he crossed his arms and looked away from her. "You wouldn't understand. You couldn't handle the truth about me."

"Try me."

Vegeta looked back over to Bulma to tell her she was wrong, but what he saw stopped him and made his breath hitch. She looked…determined…her eyes flashing with misplaced acceptance, at least in his mind. There was no way some innocent Earthling would be able to understand the evils that he would have brought upon the universe. He needed to close his eyes tightly to prevent himself from seeing the horrid images again.

"Vegeta, look at me," Bulma said with slight frustration, but the Saiyan was playing stubborn and just shook his head. "Okay, fine, don't look at me, but come to bed. Now."

"No," Vegeta growled out.

"You are acting like such a little kid right now," Bulma huffed.

At that, Vegeta's eyes shot open, rage filling them. "So what? I never got the chance to before!"

Silence rang out in the room with Bulma just staring at Vegeta in shock from his outburst, and Vegeta realizing what he said. He closed his eyes in acceptance of what he had just admitted and said, "Just go to bed and leave me alone."

"Vegeta, we can talk about this and-"

"What is with Earthlings and their precious desire to talk?" he shouted standing up from his spot. "Raditz and Nappa never force me to talk. Kakarot always wants to talk about this stuff…now you. Just, why can't the topic just be dropped?"

Bulma couldn't believe that he was ranting about not wanting to talk when he was clearly trying to talk about it. She just sat in silence and let him continue. "Raditz tried to get me to talk once, but he accepted that he could never understand what I have to deal with. No one has any idea what that tyrant would have done. I should have never left when Bardock and I found out that lizard was coming to take me away. Maybe if I hadn't gone, the planet…"

"Don't do that to yourself!" Bulma snapped. She couldn't take it anymore. Why was he blaming himself for things he didn't have control over? "It is NOT your fault that any of this happened. There are just things in the universe that can't be explained. Hell, even with science and the stuff my father has invented, we still can't explain why people do what they do or what problems the universe holds. My father and I are probably the only ones with a firm belief in aliens let alone an understanding. Now, I don't know this Frieza guy, but I can tell he was terrible. You going with him would have served no purpose. You would have been hurt."

Vegeta's eyes widened, and he slowly turned to her. "How do you know his name?" he asked. Bulma's eyes widened when she realized her own mistake. "I have never once said his name around you. Believe me; I would have remembered that. How did you know?"

"I…" Bulma started. She didn't want to explain how she found out about his visions just yet. He could possibly shut down on her again and she didn't want that. She couldn't bear to see him hurt. "You mumbled his name the other night when we were sharing the room. I just assumed…I'm sorry."

Vegeta released an aggravated sigh. "Never mind; it's not important. Just leave me alone."

"Not until you actually come to bed," Bulma retorted, standing up and placing her hands on her hips.

"Then we have reached an impasse," Vegeta growled sitting back down on the couch, sulking.

Bulma sat back down next to him and picked up a remote and turned the television on. She cringed when Vegeta jumped up and shouted. "What kind of trickery is this?" he exclaimed in a panic. "Why do you have a communication unit? Are you telling someone about us?"

"Communication what?" Bulma asked, stunned. "Vegeta, it's just a T.V. Um, it's a device that allows people to watch shows, mostly fictional, but also to check the news and weather. It's how we get our information on a daily basis. It's not like a two way communication device. That would be like telephones or walkie-talkies, oh, and computers…but not a T.V."

Vegeta calmed down a little bit after that, but he still felt awkward with this television being on. He watched some type of fake, violent, Earthling program and had to force himself not to scoff at the unrefined movements. He glanced over to Bulma and was taken aback when he found her staring right back at him so intensely.

"Vegeta, why are you so paranoid…to think I would be communicating about your personal business with anyone?" Bulma asked him.

"I am NOT paranoid," Vegeta said in frustration.

"Really?" Bulma asked sarcastically. "Because last time I checked, you were able to trust me with your story and now you're freaking out because you think I've somehow gotten some type of communication device, which I'm guessing is a common method of communication on your planet. Just talk to me."

"I don't want to talk," Vegeta grumbled, crossing his arms with a pout.

Bulma couldn't help but smile. "You can trust me, Vegeta," she said putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Why would I trust a _stranger_?" Vegeta growled, taking another jab at her, and Bulma definitely felt it. Then she remembered what Raditz told her.

_"From now on, call him Prince Vegeta when addressing him. Trust me; that'll get to him."_

Well, she really had nothing to lose, right? Besides, Raditz obviously knew the Saiyan prince better than anyone. Bulma stood up in frustration and put her hands on her hips. "Well, if that is how you feel, Prince Vegeta, I'll be taking my leave. You obviously don't need me."

Vegeta felt a stabbing feeling in his chest when Bulma not only called him by his title, but when she said he didn't need her. He wanted to grab ahold of her and tell her she was wrong, but his pride wouldn't allow it. He just sat there staring at the floor, forcing his emotions to stay buried.

Bulma could see that her words had an impact on him by looking at his fallen expression. Sure, his facial features did not betray him, but in his eyes he looked broken. She didn't say anything, though, as she turned to leave the room.

Vegeta watched her go, not really knowing what else to do. He looked at the clicking device Bulma had used to work the "television" and tried to figure out how to turn it off. After he found the power button, the device went black and Vegeta continued to sit alone.

Eventually, he got tired of it and got up, walking towards the room he had shared with Bulma the last couple of days. He found her asleep in the bed, his tense features softening as he watched her breathing lightly. Vegeta looked around the room and noticed that there was a cushioned chair there. Instead of getting into bed, he decided to shut the door and sit in that chair. He closed his eyes as he waited for sleep to overtake him.

Bulma heard the sound of the door shut and pretended to be asleep only to hear the motion of Vegeta sitting down in her chair. She sat up and looked over to see the Saiyan prince slightly curled on the chair. Now that he was asleep, she got up and took out an extra blanket from her closet, not noticing that he was watching her every move as soon as her feet touched the floor. When she turned around, Vegeta closed his eyes and listened as her footsteps crept closer.

"You are a stubborn one," Bulma said quietly with a sigh as she placed the blanket over him. She took her hand and ran in through his hair before placing a kiss on his forehead. "Goodnight, Vegeta."

Vegeta felt immense relief wash over him at her gesture. Even though he had been pushing her away, she still cared; even if he was a stranger, she still cared; and despite his pride, he knew he cared too. Maybe, just maybe, the following day wouldn't bring as much trouble as Vegeta predicted.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, so this chapter would have been out on Friday, but food poisoning got in the way. Anyways, no surgery tomorrow as planned, so now even more time to focus on writing. Yay! Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters

Thank you for the many, many reviews I got for the last chapter. Sorry all of these updates are slow. I'm trying to knock out other stories so that I have more time dedicate to my other stories, including this one. And also a special thanks to Full Power who helped me plan out this chapter. If you ever get a chance, check out his story Second Chance. Really awesome Bardock story :) And also, check out his new story, Trials and Tribulations if you're a Raditz fan :)

* * *

><p>The morning was quiet and peaceful, and there wasn't even a stirring in the small capsule house. Well, almost nothing was stirring. Having been informed about the hunt for Dragon Balls, Oolong became even greedier and wanted the wish for himself. He was actually thankful that Goku would not shut up about the balls. Even though he had been silenced by his older brother, the pig still had enough information. These Saiyans that had taken him on their journey desperately wanted the orange spheres. He gathered that they would be wishing for something important, but he couldn't figure out what it was nor did he care seeing as the Dragon Balls would become his in moments.<p>

Seconds away from grabbing the shining orbs, Oolong squealed when a foot came crashing down on his wrist effectively stopping him. The pig looked up to see a very unhappy Saiyan prince glaring down hard at him, his arms crossed demanding an explanation.

Oolong laughed nervously looking from the prince to his hand. Vegeta only needed to apply slightly more force than he was to snap his wrist. "H-hey Vegeta," the pig greeted fearfully. "What's up?"

"That is Prince Vegeta to you, swine," he countered, "and I should be asking you the same question. Did you not sneak into this room waking me up while attempting to steal the Dragon Balls?" Vegeta saw Oolong swallow in fear. He knew he had caught him in the disgraceful act of thievery. "Answer wisely."

Oolong could tell Vegeta was serious, and he didn't want to get himself even more on his bad side by lying about his intentions. "I…wanted the wish for myself," he answered and then Vegeta took his foot off his wrist. Oolong took the chance to retract his hand away from Bulma's carrier bag. "You're letting me go…just like that?"

"No," Vegeta replied snappishly, "not 'just like that.' The only reason you are here and not as a piece of bacon is because that woman sleeping in the bed decided you would be useful. If for any reason you prove her wrong and dare trying to rob her or any of us again, you will be answering to me. And I will be perfectly honest, I am not as patient as Raditz, as kind as Kakarot, or as blasé as Nappa. If you cross me, you will regret it. Clear?"

Oolong swallowed again before replying with a very quiet, "Crystal."

Vegeta nodded his head toward the door. Oolong didn't need to be told twice as he stood up and fled from the room. Shaking his head, Vegeta scoffed and moved to fix Bulma's carrier bag so that the Dragon Balls were inside of it instead resting to the side of it like the one Oolong was trying to grab. Vegeta couldn't believe that the pig had such audacity to attempt to steal from them. If it wasn't for them, the pig would be imprisoned now if not a roast if he were unlucky.

The morning conflict went unnoticed by Bulma as she was still asleep in the bed. The confrontation hadn't wakened her, which was good for Vegeta. She didn't need to hear him at his worst, even if he was embellishing his threat with more force than he actually planned to administer should the pig ever try anything again. It was just the attitude he picked up from his visions.

He watched the sleeping woman on the bed, smirking slightly remembering the night before when she placed the blanket on him and kissed his forehead. That had to mean something for them, no matter how small. He was grasping, or at least he thought so, for some optimism regarding their future. It was comforting knowing that she was in fact trying as well despite not knowing him well. He had no idea why her attitude had changed, though. He would have to ask Raditz his thoughts on the matter.

He sensed the others' kis heighten letting him know that they were all waking up. He questioned whether or not he should wake Bulma up or let her sleep until plans were made. Deciding to settle on the latter, he left the room and moved towards the kitchen. Meanwhile, Bulma already lay awake in the bed having heard the earlier discussion without his knowledge. The way he spoke had frightened her, but deep down she knew he didn't mean it. She knew that at times guys were talk just to save face or scare someone else into believing them. As long as he tried, though, she didn't mind that scary aura around him when he spoke that way. She knew she would accept him despite this cruelness he exhibited.

And then as soon as she thought that, she panicked. She still barely knew him, visions or not. Sure, she understood that he knew her, probably even her likes and dislikes. He probably even knew where she lived. Still, to Bulma they still met mere days ago and she was already thinking of him like she would a boyfriend. Rejecting him was wrong, but fully accepting him within their half a week of knowing each other was not a good idea, especially with him not talking to her. Why did they both have to be so stubborn?

Bulma reluctantly got out of bed knowing the Saiyans would need to eat soon and that she would have to face them. They needed to start out soon if they were going to get to the Dragon Ball before nightfall. First they needed to get through the desert, and deal with the bandit Oolong seemed worried about. Well, with how strong the Saiyans were, Bulma assured herself there wouldn't be a problem. Settling for some white, jean shorts and a dark blue tank top, she left her room determined to get through the day's hunt as quick as possible.

* * *

><p>When she got into the kitchen, she was shocked. She knew she probably shouldn't have been, but she was. "Why are you guys eating raw meat?" she asked with a slight shriek in her voice. She looked to Oolong who was watching the Saiyans with disgust. Never had either Earthling seen someone shovel that much raw meat into their mouths at once.<p>

Vegeta took one of the napkins and delicately wiped his mouth before looking at her. "Raw meat is essential," he explained. "It helps with our growth and gives us the protein we need."

"Yeah, I know," Bulma retorted. "Protein is important for our growth too, but we don't eat raw meat."

"You do not need as much as we do," Vegeta continued to explain. "Besides, I am sure you're aware of proteins losing structure when heated at certain temperatures, correct? Not all proteins, but enough lose their integrity. You humans can get by on it, we can tolerate it, but raw meat is better."

Bulma was impressed by Vegeta's explanation. It made sense to her, seeing as she did take a biology course or two. This just made her realize how smart Vegeta truly was. He explained it as well if not better than a textbook ever could. He peaked her curiosity, which with Bulma was always a good thing to do. Now they had something in common that they could discuss later when this journey was over. When he came to train at her home, maybe they could set the foundations for a relationship. She would take the rest of this trip to get to know him as much as he knew her.

After Bulma had grabbed a quick breakfast, while attempting to avoid watching the Saiyans feast, they were ready to go. Everyone left the capsule house so that Bulma could collapse it and return it to her pouch. As she pressed the capsulation button, she noted the fearfulness in Oolong as well as the tenseness among the Saiyans except for Goku who never seemed to worry about anything.

"So are we ready?" Bulma asked the group. She only received a few grunts from Nappa and Raditz and a forced nod from Vegeta. Her brow quirked when she saw him gazing intently at the desert with a small frown plastered on his face. She wondered if he knew something that would put them in danger, though she was fairly certain Vegeta wouldn't be pushing through if there was anything that would harm them. "Then let's move out."

Bulma took another capsule and threw it into the air. A small, coverless SUV appeared.

"How many of those do you have?" Raditz asked in genuine curiosity.

"I don't know," Bulma admitted. "I just know I pretty much prepared for every type of travel and circumstance. Anyways, hop in."

"W-What?" Nappa questioned. "In that thing?"

"Yeah," Bulma stated. "What's the big deal? You guys can save energy and this can get us across the desert."

Vegeta chuckled slightly. "Woman, you're crazy if you think we can't take that heat. We come from a desert planet. This will be nothing."

Bulma sighed in defeat and then said, "Do what you want. I'm still going to drive it."

"Why is this so important to you?" Vegeta asked, slightly hesitantly. "We'll get through much quicker if we fly." The truth was he wanted to avoid the ground all together. If they did, chances were they wouldn't meet the bandit that he'd have to compete with later. He didn't understand why Bulma was so insistent on driving, and he most certainly didn't want her to meet Yamcha alone. He would definitely have to go with her.

Bulma wasn't expecting that question, and she really didn't know how to answer. What she had been thinking was that she could better get information from them if they were taking time to chat, like on a long car ride. When they flew, the trip was too short and it was difficult to hear. If they were driving, they could just have casual conversation and she could try to get to know Vegeta. "I just thought it would be fun," she replied. "Car rides are leisurely and I figured we could talk and learn more about each other, so that we aren't just…strangers."

Vegeta and Bulma stared at each other for a moment, and then Vegeta nodded. He had accepted her proposal which lifted a huge weight from Bulma's heart. The prince who had been ignoring her was now finally going to talk to her, and she would finally start to get to know him. Maybe this whole thing would work out.

"Great, then let's pile in, boys," Bulma said in a cheerier tone. Vegeta picked up on it, his expression becoming soft and wide-eyed. He couldn't believe that she was actually offering him the chance to cross that line of stranger to "friend." Despite his reluctance, he would comply only if that meant he could start winning her affections. Now, he didn't seem so worried about the trip into the desert. If the desert bandit did show up, he would make sure to prevent the man from even talking to her. Vegeta finally let himself smirk. This Yamcha would be no threat.

* * *

><p>The drive started off quiet, and, even though they were moving slower than the Saiyans would have liked, it was nice and peaceful. Vegeta never realized how much he liked just being able to admire the landscapes in front of him, and he didn't even need to expend his energy. Plus Bulma had travel snacks and drinks, which the hungry Saiyans eagerly accepted. Nappa and Raditz sat in the back with Oolong in the middle and Goku on Raditz's lap.<p>

"So Vegeta?" Bulma said leading into a question. "How old are you?" Vegeta cast her a questioning glance crossing his arms in some sort of defense.

"Why?" he asked. "Does age matter?"

"Huh?" Bulma replied, seeing that he was nervous. "Oh, no, not really. I'm just asking, silly, to get to know you. Also, when's your birthday?"

"My what?" he asked with a slight snap.

Bulma's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "You mean you've never had a birthday party before? Everyone celebrates their birthday, well, almost everyone."

"What is a 'birth day?'" Vegeta pressed. "I've never heard of it."

"Oh my…" Bulma said putting a head to her forehead. "Your people don't celebrate the day you're born?"

"No," Vegeta remarked narrowing his eyes in confusion, "why would they? It's just a day, and age isn't really something to keep track of. My roundabout age is sixteen, but the only thing I know about the day I was born was a pattern of a warrior in the sky. That is why my father expected me to…"

Vegeta stopped talking as he felt the bitterness towards the legend his father had told him. Obviously the man hadn't believed it if he thought handing him over to Frieza would have been the only way to protect him. His father was an idiot to make deals with him. The Arcosian tyrant was pure evil and Vegeta was thankful his mother had the clear sense to get him away from him so that he could one day reach that legend.

"Vegeta?"

Vegeta quickly snapped from his thoughts, his eyes meeting Bulma's worried ones. They continued to gaze at each other, her mentally questioning his behavior, before her eyes went back in front of her.

"Well," she started, "I could always find out when your birthday is, knowing the coordinates and the constellations. It might take a while, but I could determine it by Earth time."

"Don't bother, Bulma," Vegeta said quietly. "I do not wish to celebrate my 'birthday.' All it means is another year where I'm not strong enough."

"Eh, don't think like that," Bulma replied with a gentle softness that touched Vegeta somehow. "Just think of it as another year to prepare for your goal. You should always celebrate your birthday. It reminds you that you're worth so much more than you can imagine."

Vegeta thought back to his visions, the flashing image of him murdering someone in cold blood running in the back of his mind. He hated that he seemed to enjoy himself as a deranged expression clouded his normally stoic face. "How would you know what I'm worth?" he growled bitterly, clenching his fist in anger.

Bulma shrugged. Not wanting to draw the conversation out longer, she simply stated, "I just know. I can tell that you're a good person and a great fighter. If you weren't, you would have let me die when my car blew up."

Vegeta cringed at her blatant honesty. It was true that he could have let her die, but if his visions were right, she was his mate. He couldn't just have left her to that. "True."

Bulma kept taking peeks at Vegeta while driving. She truly felt for the teenaged Saiyan. He had been through so much at such a young age. It reminded Bulma of why she had offered up her wish. She was lucky, and she knew it. Sure, she dealt with her own trust issues with both friendships and relationships because many tried to get special treatment. That was nothing compared to Vegeta's suffering or the suffering of the other Saiyans. Her family was wealthy; she had her parents and a roof over her head. There was nothing she could ever imagine complaining about again after all of this. So what if she never wished for her "perfect boyfriend." If she ultimately gave into Vegeta's visions, she wouldn't even have to worry about that. Bulma smiled, knowing that she would ultimately choose to be with the Saiyan. She already felt like she was getting to know him pretty well. How strange that she had felt this connected to someone after knowing them for so short a time. Vegeta had to be something special for her to even consider this.

"Anyways," Bulma spoke up after being silent for a while, "I'm sixteen too, and my birthday is next month. Hopefully we'll be done with this search by then. I can't wait to start working with my dad on training equipment for you guys."

Vegeta's eyes widened, but before he got his hopes up, he asked cautiously, "Your offer still stands?"

"Of course," the girl replied with a smile. "And maybe, just maybe, I'll decide to tell you the reason I chose to believe you when you told me your story."

Vegeta blushed slightly, but just continued to look at the sandy scenery. It wasn't until a small voice from the back rang out that Vegeta's attention was brought to his Saiyan comrades.

"I'm hungry," Goku whined slightly having not been appeased by the snacks.

"Kakarot," Raditz spoke sternly, "we need to cover more ground if we want to get to our destination by nightfall, right Bulma?"

"Actually, I factored lunch into the travel time today," she answered. "Always better to be prepared. We can stop here for a short lunch break, okay?"

Rumbles of stomachs from each Saiyan answered her question and also caused all the men to blush. Goku just wanted food and didn't care about the noise his stomach made. He was simply happy that they were stopping. Bulma was quick to get the food capsules out too, and the Saiyans began digging into the food she had prepared for them.

They had been after sometime of being in the desert, and no one knew. The desert bandit, Yamcha, was watching from his hideout in the distance. Humming sounds from a vehicle had caught the ears of his partner in crime, Puar, the shape shifting cat, and both thieves were ready to make themselves known.

"You ready, Puar?" the long-haired fighter asked.

"You bet, Yamcha," came the high-pitched squeak. "They won't know what hit 'em."

The bandit smirked, ready to hunt his prey. These people had to be idiots to drive right into his territory. The second they stopped, the unsuspecting travelers would learn what it meant to be on his turf.

* * *

><p>"Woman, are you serious?" Vegeta asked in irritation. "I thought you said 'short break.'"<p>

"Hold on, Mister Impatient," Bulma called from inside the capsule house. "I needed to use the rest room. It's not as easy as it is for you."

"Fine, whatever," Vegeta muttered. "Just hurry up. I don't want to be in the desert too long."

"Jeez, Vegeta," Bulma called out. "It's almost as if you're afraid of this desert. Too hot for you to handle?"

"Please," Vegeta scoffed. "My planet was much hotter than this. This is nothing."

"Then what's your problem?" she pressed.

"Nothing." It was a lie, and he knew it. He even had to ignore meeting eyes with Raditz and Nappa. Surely they would see his unease if he did. He didn't have the same mental training to conceal emotions as he would have with Frieza. He only picked up on enough to hide physical discomfort and erect the façade that he was emotionally fine overall. His comrades, his family, they didn't need to know what haunted him at night or learn that his visions of what could have been left him emotionally broken.

Vegeta walked back over to the car and leaned against it, his foot pressed up against the metal and his arms crossed. He surveyed the surroundings. Something felt off, and Vegeta couldn't place the feeling. It felt like a familiar setting although he had never seen it before, his mind numb with a slight buzz in his ear. He was almost worried that he had finally lost it, but like he was still sane.

And then he heard it, the sound of someone whizzing by, phasing in front of his sight. The buzz disappeared, and he glared at the desert bandit standing in front of him. So this was the man from his vision, this Yamcha that was supposedly his rival. His power level was pathetic. Vegeta scoffed at the face that this was what he had been nervous about.

The bandit in question looked weak, his crouched stance leaving way too many openings. He wore a cocky smile with a gleam in his eyes. This weakling actually thought he was going to be able to steal from them. The long-haired, scruffy fighter was going to have his hands full with well-trained Saiyan prince.

"You shouldn't have come to Diablo Desert," he said smugly. "Now you'll see what it means to meet a true devil."

Vegeta rolled his eyes at the lame line. The only devil he knew was Frieza. Nothing else could compare to him. "Don't embarrass yourself, bandit," Vegeta scoffed. "You do not want to challenge me."

"Is that so?" Yamcha retorted. "Look dude, I don't want to embarrass you in front of your friends so why don't you just hand over your capsules and cash, and I'll be on my way."

"What an idiot," Nappa muttered. "Vegeta, want me to shut him up?"

Vegeta smirked and crossed his arms. "No," he replied. "If he wants to fight, then he has one. I won't even move from this single spot."

"Wow, that's an arrogant attitude you have there, shorty," Yamcha jeered. "Fine then, I gave you a chance to run. I won't feel guilty when I humiliate you in front of your buddies."

Vegeta frowned at the insults. This guy was starting to get on his nerves. Well, he would show him that height didn't matter. The second he tried to land an attack, Vegeta would make sure that Yamcha was the one humiliated.

He didn't say anything else; he simply stood up tall with his arms crossed waiting. "Alright, you asked for it," Yamcha said with a grin. "Wolf Fang Fist!"

Yamcha leaped in front of Vegeta, aiming his attacks at his head. Vegeta simply tilted his head in the opposite direction of each hit. Yamcha made the attempt to kick him, but Vegeta, with one arm, knocked him off to the side a few feet.

"What the heck?" Yamcha asked rubbing his jaw from the force of his opponent's fist. "Oh, a tough guy, huh? Well, you won't survive it a second time."

"Hey guys, sorry it took me so long in there," Bulma stated as she walked out of the capsule house. "I had a phone call and…who's this?"

Vegeta glanced over to Bulma, gaging her reaction of Yamcha, but all she held was one of confusion and distrust. He looked back to his opponent and was shocked to find him panicking simply from looking at Bulma. Yamcha looked completely horrified, yelling slightly before running off. Vegeta was left gaping at the spot the bandit once stood understanding the hilarity of the situation.

Yamcha, his rival in winning over Bulma, was afraid of her.

Vegeta couldn't help the booming laugh that fled from his throat. Seeing their prince's amusement, something they hadn't seen in a long time, Raditz and Nappa joined him. Goku looked over to Oolong with a small pout and asked, "What's so funny?"

"Eh, beats me, kid," the pig answered. "I'm lost."

Bulma stare blankly at Vegeta, watching him laugh. It was like time had stopped for her. He hadn't seen him this happy since they started this journey. She didn't even remember hearing him laugh aside from the occasional chuckle. This was a side she hadn't seen in him, and it made her so happy that she was now.

Vegeta finally regained control of himself, tilting his head to smirk at Bulma. "Let's get going," Vegeta ordered with absolutely no force. "We probably won't be out of the desert with all these delays by tonight, but we can at least cover more distance."

Bulma smiled to him and nodded, returning the house to its capsule before everyone piled back into the car. The hum of the engine rang out once again, and the slow but steady drive continued. Vegeta took the moment to lay his head back into his hands and actually relax.

* * *

><p>Vegeta was right when he said they wouldn't make it out, but they were close. Again, they set up camp, and this time, the Saiyans were outside enjoying the heat that reminded them so much of home. It was much cooler since it was night, but still hot enough to remind them of the fallen planet. Bulma could tell that they seemed much more relaxed and laidback. It actually made her feel good to see them enjoying themselves, even if she had to wear practically nothing to stay cool.<p>

When it was time for bed, Oolong went into the capsule house. Bulma was about to enter, but she saw the Saiyans weren't budging and were actually lying down in the sandy dunes. She walked over to Vegeta who was a little further back from the rest of his crew. He was looking at the sky, seeing as it was so easy to see the stars there. "Hey, what's up? You guys coming in?" Bulma asked him.

Vegeta answered with a smile and single shake of his head. "We would rather stay out here tonight," he stated simply.

Bulma decided to sit down on the sand next to him, which he didn't seem to mind. "Why?" she asked. "It's more comfortable inside."

"Maybe for you," Vegeta retorted. "Our planet was like this, a desert. The temperature may not be exactly the same, but it's still nostalgic. I never thought I'd feel terrain like this again in my life."

"Wow," Bulma said in a whisper. Part of her had almost forgotten the reason she was giving up her wish. She could never truly forget, especially after the talk earlier, but now…she didn't know how she'd feel if she could never be in a technologically advanced city or visit a beach ever again. She had no idea what it really meant to lose a home.

But Vegeta did, and he was longing for a world that he never thought he'd get back. Well, at least with the Dragon Balls, he could wish his planet back. But then the thought hit Bulma…how would she become his mate if he were leaving to return to his planet. The feeling of dread formed a knot in her stomach. She decided to distract herself by asking more questions. "So…what else was your planet like? Was it similar to Earth?"

"No," Vegeta answered honestly. "It was more dangerous with even more rugged terrain than this. It was blazing hot, to temperature humans wouldn't be able to tolerate. There were no water bodies like oceans, only a few small patches. The air was arid everywhere. The gravity was ten times higher than here. The sky was a mix of red and black, contrasting the soft blue and white of Earth. It was a warrior's home."

"You really miss it," Bulma observed, turning on her side to observe Vegeta's expression. He looked like he was almost in pain.

"No," he said, though part of him was lying. "I used to. I do wish to return to it one day once we wish it back with the Dragon Balls, but I wouldn't be able to stay there. Too much has changed having lived here for so long. I wouldn't be happy there."

Bulma's eyes softened when he admitted this. She knew she was the reason he wouldn't be happy returning to his home. Feelings of guilt crept into her stomach replacing the dread. This man, no this teenager who acted like a man, must have really cared about her. It made her wish that she could see the things he had. She was sure she'd readily accept him is she ever had visions of him becoming her one and only.

Maybe breaching her trust barriers regarding strangers wouldn't be a bad thing.

Determining that, Bulma decided to curl up into Vegeta which shocked the Saiyan to the point where he jumped at the contact. When he realized that she was using his chest as a pillow for her head, he pulled her closer to him, positioning her so she would be comfortable in both his embrace and on the sand.

"It's going to work out," Bulma said with optimism. "You'll see Planet Vegeta again. We'll find all the Dragon Balls, and then the rest will be cake."

_I hope so, _Vegeta thought before closing his eyes. Part of him felt like Bulma was right. It would be easy. Right now it was too easy. It was hard to trust something when it was too easy. That thought made Vegeta feel uneasy. He decided to shake it off and get some rest under the desert sky. He didn't know that there was someone watching close by.

"Well, that explains a lot," Yamcha muttered bitterly. "So that guy's an alien, huh?"

"Sound like it," Puar said.

"Well, whatever," Yamcha said. "So these Dragon Balls are what they're looking for, huh? Ever heard of them?"

"No, not at all," the cat answered. "I know what you're thinking, Yamcha."

"Yeah," he said seriously. "I'm going to get these Dragon Balls and wish to be as strong as that guy if not stronger. That will teach him to mess with me."

"Oh," Puar replied with wide eyes. "I thought you were going to ask to get over your fear of girls."

Yamcha's face went blank for a moment before he said, "Oh yeah, that…that's what I meant."

* * *

><p>The first person up in the morning had been Raditz, and the first sight he saw was his prince and Bulma curled up together in the sand. For the first time in a long time, Vegeta had a peaceful smile on his face. Raditz couldn't help but grin at the teenaged couple. They seemed to be getting closer already. Vegeta would freak out, though, if he knew that everyone save Kakarot and the pig were aware of his visions of her. He'd probably find out one day, but until then, the older Saiyan would keep quiet.<p>

Nappa woke up shortly afterwards, stretching his muscles and popping his stiff joints. "It's been awhile since I slept that good," the bald Saiyan stated. He looked over to Vegeta and saw that he was still out. "Looks like he needs more time, huh?"

"It's been a trying decade for him," Raditz reminded the older Saiyan. "I wish he had mentioned what his visions were. It would have helped him."

"Yeah, you knew about them too," Nappa accused. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Raditz cast him a small glare. "It was not my place to tell you his business, and my father told me to keep quiet about it too. I tried to get Vegeta to talk to me. He knew I knew. That's why he was somewhat fine with talking to the girl when he thought she was me."

"Frieza would have destroyed him," Nappa angrily replied. "That bastard would have damaged him beyond repair."

"Not exactly," Raditz told him. Nappa gave him an indignant glare, but Raditz explained. "He would have eventually come here, you know that. He would have met her some other way, but he would have. He would have seen the life he could have with his visions. He'd still hold on to some sliver of sanity, killer or not."

"Still," Nappa muttered. "He would have ruined all of us. Well Kakarot would have been here not knowing he was a Saiyan sent to destroy this place, but we would have been monsters."

"Probably," Raditz remarked. "I don't care about that, though. We didn't have to see it or live through it, Vegeta did. It's no wonder he's been as closed off as he has been over the years. Let's hope he starts opening up, at least to her at some point. She heard the terrible things he said he would have done and she's able to overlook it. He needs that."

They both sensed Vegeta's ki heighten slightly, him now starting to wake up, so they cut the conversation there. He wiped the sleepiness from his eyes and gently shook Bulma awake.

"Five more minutes," came the girl's reply.

"Wake up, woman," Vegeta said a little forcefully. "The sun will be up full force soon, and you'll be fried to a crisp."

Bulma reluctantly sat up and stretch before saying, "That wasn't blunt at all," with sarcasm lacing her voice. "Morning Vegeta."

"Hm," Vegeta grunted with a smile. "Morning."

"So we're heading out," Raditz stated alerting the two teens to the fact that he and Nappa were watching them.

"Yes, we have to get through this desert," Vegeta stated with as much authority as he could, attempting to keep the awkwardness he felt out of his voice. "Get Kakarot up and the pig out of the house and we will continue."

"Will do," Nappa agreed before going into the capsule house.

Getting everyone up and packed went pretty quickly. They knew they were almost out of the desert, so they agreed to forgo breakfast until they were at their destination. Bulma drove as swiftly as she could not knowing that she they were being followed. The Saiyans weren't even on alert as they enjoyed the rest of the trip in the nostalgic desert. They finally reached the end of the desert and ended up somewhere surprisingly hotter than where they had just been. Vegeta smirked slightly. Now this felt like home.

"Hey Veggie, where are we?" Goku asked from the back seat.

"I don't know kid," he answered, "but I think that we're going to like it here."

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, so that's chapter 8! Twice as long as the other chapters. I hope that made up for the long wait. Anyways, thanks for reading and maybe drop a review to let me know your thoughts on what you want or think should happen. I like to consider my reviewers ideas :)


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters

This is the last chapter where I'll be answering reviews at the beginning of that chapter. Mostly I'll be replying by PM and publicly thanking guest reviewers.

Speaking of...to the last guest who reviewed, I was highly entertained by the review. My best friend says "why you no" all the time, so of course when I saw it, I needed to ask him if it was him and was shocked when he said surprisingly that wasn't. Gave us both a great laugh, so thank you for that :D

In other news…can you believe I wrote another chapter? Okay, I'll admit, I had this chapter planned out these last two years, but the problem was I didn't know how to execute it. I decided that I'm not going to keep the chapters DB canon, because that would just take too much time and energy. Basically, I have to go through the first Dragon Ball hunt and all that before I can fully diverge. Don't worry; I haven't given up on this story, and I won't eliminate villains based on just not wanting to re-watch the episodes. Some episodes I may re-watch, but not all, so don't expect it to fully follow canon.

In other other news, I also now have a masters degree and will have an internship starting in the fall. So, this past year alone was very hard and intense. I was very emotionally overwhelmed because of things that happen. If you read my one-shot, The One Left Behind, I'm sure you'll understand. I had also had an internship last summer and was without a computer for a while because my old laptop had been fried. That along with getting a masters in a year aided in the delay. Hopefully, things will calm down in this year to come so I can get through the chapters a bit quicker. I'm so sorry for the delay with this story, but I thank all of those who continued to support the story even though it's been a while since the last chapter was posted. Thank you to all who will continue to support me and this story in the future.

Bleach102: Great :D Thanks for the review.

Bob: Thanks for the review, and glad you are enjoying. I love giving Vegeta and Goku and brotherly bond too :) It's actually a lot of fun, especially since Goku is so oblivious to the world around him XD I haven't thought about their children yet. There's still a lot of ground to cover. As for the fights, I have plans to make them work out so that they're still very exciting and more evenly matched, but until then, yeah, they'd be very overpowered. I probably won't do a gag scene like that, but I do hope for some humor in the fights.

Guest: Well, first off, they're not true rivals in the sense of rivals. They are love rivals. I haven't planned an official rival for Vegeta. I haven't left it open for it yet. Kakarot is more of a little brother to him in this AU, and he's weaker than him for the moment. They're going to go through the same training. Now if you're worried about how that will affect fights with other characters, don't worry, because I have ideas to make them fair and action-packed fights. Also, Pilaf hasn't been brought it, but will be later. I don't plan on keeping those characters around.

Guest: Glad you enjoyed the chapter :) It was good to add a little BXV moment that wasn't full of drama. I like fluff more XD Thanks for the review!

KimiruMai: Kimi, you know me very well now, and you know I wouldn't do anything to make you come after me. You always assume the worst XD Need I remind you that I would have warned you ahead of time. I promise to try to add more BXV time, but right now they're on a mission, and you know how Vegeta is about a mission. But there will be plenty when the mission is over XD

nikki-michelle: I'm glad to have another fan. Thanks for reading and reviewing, and I do hope to update more often than I have been :3

SaiyanPrincessBB: Yup, they are at Chi Chi's XD And Idk how I feel about Yamcha. I hated him in DBZ, loved him in DB, then I tried to give him another shot in DBZ and he made remarks that made me want to smack him silly, so Idk XD I'm indifferent I guess. Lol. And it's fun writing Vegeta not under Frieza's rule. Totally different X3

sofy2011: I'm glad you like the difference. Thanks for the reviews! :3

iluvveggie: It's been a while since I saw a review from you :D Good to see you again. Thanks for your support.

Pisceskat: I'm doing the best I can. Life has been really difficult lately…

Guest: Glad you've been enjoying. Sorry it took so long to get updated.

* * *

><p>It was hot, so immensely hot, and Bulma couldn't even fan herself without the warmth clinging to her body. She tried to ignore the forming sweat as they walked, as well as the huffiness she felt. And, as usual, the Saiyans seemed perfectly fine in the heat.<p>

_Lucky, _she thought bitterly until she noticed Vegeta's upturned lips. Though she hated their locale, it was clear he felt the most comfortable there.

"This place," Raditz remarked, "I believe it is a place called 'Fire Mountain.' I heard people mentioning it when we first arrived on the planet and were listening to inhabitants for information."

"It is," Oolong noted, but quickly became silent when the long-haired Saiyan shot him a glare.

"Appropriate name," Vegeta acknowledged. Somehow, the name seemed very familiar to him. He didn't remember seeing the place in his visions, so he couldn't understand the feeling of déjà vu.

"I get that you guys are super tough, freaky aliens and such," Bulma complained, "but seriously, how can you not even be sweating."

"Feh, humans," Nappa muttered, though both Vegeta and Raditz flashed him looks of disapproval.

"Hey, guys," little Goku called out while flying next to everyone on a little, orange cloud he had been given by the turtle's master, "the radar thingy is blinking."

"Let me see that," Bulma said, the heat momentarily forgotten. The little Saiyan handed it over and she started messing with some of the buttons. "Hey, awesome. It looks like we're almost there. We just need to head…" She turned and pointed up towards a blazing mountain. "Um…maybe we should wait until that dies down."

"Don't worry about it," Vegeta ordered while smirking. "This just makes things more entertaining."

"Yeah, entertaining," Bulma muttered sarcastically, "sure."

* * *

><p>As they continued towards the spot on the radar they did so in silence. It was starting to get a little awkward, so Oolong spoke up again. "So…" he murmured and looked at the youngest Saiyan. "Goku, if you had this cloud thing, why didn't you use that to fly?"<p>

Goku blankly looked at the shapeshifter and said, "Nimbus wouldn't have been able to keep up with my brothers and Nappa," as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Speaking of not being able to keep up, Bulma was struggling herself and feeling the effects of the heat more and more. She was about ready to pass out from the heat, but she seemed to manage. Well, that's what she thought. Seconds later, she felt like she wasn't moving and also felt arms around her. She hadn't even realized that she had stumbled.

Looking up, she saw Vegeta staring down at her with concerned and questioning eyes. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Mm?" she murmured. "Oh, yeah, I guess I am. The heat is just getting to me. I'll be okay."

Still, concerned, Vegeta managed to glance at her locator. "It's not much further," he stated. "Think you can hold on until we reach the top?"

Bulma nodded and so he helped her to stand up. She smiled at him and placed her free hand on his shoulder. He looked between her hand and face nervously. "Thank you," she whispered quietly. She then walked ahead of him which he was thankful for so that she couldn't see him blush.

Oolong noticed though and looked to Goku. "Looks like she's not the only one affected by the heat," he chuckled.

"Huh?" Goku remarked.

The shapeshifter just frowned at the boy. "Humor is lost on you, isn't it?"

"Pig," Raditz growled out having heard Oolong's remarks, "if you know what's good for you, you'll remain silent."

"Hmph," Oolong grumbled before crossing his arms. _Humor is lost on that guy too, _he thought to himself.

* * *

><p>They eventually made it to the top and were met with a sight they didn't expect…namely out of control flames. "Oh my gosh!" Bulma exclaimed. "What's-"<p>

"Who are you?" a stranger shouted, jumping down in front of the group. The Saiyans instantly were on the defensive save for Goku who just seemed confused. "You are trespassing in my territory!"

Instantly, Bulma felt herself being pushed back and looked in front after catching herself to find that Vegeta had put himself between her and the stranger. Nappa and Raditz were also in front of her as if providing a protective barrier in case the giant man was hostile. He already seemed it.

"We had no intention of trespassing," Vegeta stated calmly with his arms crossed. "We are only looking for an object that we need in our journey."

"Lies!" the man growled. "I know how thieves like you operate. Just because we are dealing with a crisis does not mean that you can-"

"I know him."

Everyone was stunned into silence when Goku spoke up so confidently. The Saiyans cast their disbelieving glances, but noticed how deep in concentration Goku was as if trying to remember where he had seen the man before. Realization finally struck him and his eyes grew wide before he smiled. "I know! You're the Ox King!"

"I am," the king replied, though confused as to who the boy was. "How is it that you know me?"

"You trained with my grandpa," Goku stated matter-of-factly. "I saw pictures in his book."

Ox King's expression softened, but he still wasn't sure if he believed the kid. He had only trained with one other person before and that was Gohan. They had trained with Master Roshi and had become fast friends. It had been a long time since Ox King had seen or heard from his friend, and he had no idea that he even had a grandson. "Who was your grandfather?"

At the question, Goku's expression brightened up so much that the king knew the child was not lying as he said, "Son Gohan."

The words lingered in between the group and the king before the king smiled at the boy. The Saiyans immediately relaxed, their battle readiness disappearing. Now, it all made sense, especially since the child was sitting on the Flying Nimbus, something that his old master had in his possession. "I didn't know Gohan had a grandson."

Goku was still smiling as he said, "He found me and adopted me."

"That sounds like Gohan," Ox King murmured fondly before his eyes cut over to the Saiyans, still distrusting. "Alright, let's start over. I know the kid is the grandson of my friend, Gohan, and I trust his word since he can sit on the Nimbus cloud, but who are all of you and what have you come for? You mentioned an object."

"Why don't you explain _that _first?" Vegeta suggested, nudging his head towards the flames.

"That's being taken care of," Ox King replied, still unsure if he trusted the people who accompanied his friend's grandson. "You first."

Vegeta shrugged and then proceeded with telling the man his story. He kept his eye on the flames which seemed to be staying in place, but also kept eyeing Bulma who looked like she was about ready to succumb to heat exhaustion. He managed to tell the story quickly without leaving the important parts out. Vegeta could tell that the king was skeptical, so he allowed his tail to unwind from around his waist hoping that would clear the doubt.

Ox King was skeptical, but not because he didn't believe their story. It was just hard to believe that the people in front of him were aliens from a destroyed world. He couldn't fathom how another being could have that sort of power or malevolence to target another race in the manner that this tyrant had. As he reflected on their story and mission, Ox King realized that his daughter had not yet returned from the errand he sent her to run. She should have been back with the solution to their problems by now.

When Ox King voiced his concern, Bulma saw it as an opening to discuss taking the man's Dragon Ball. "We can help you," she offered.

Nappa was about to contradict her statement. Though he was better with her being around seeing as she was the prince's intended mate, he still didn't like her offering up their services in exchange for objects that they could just take. Vegeta's words cut him off, though. "Raditz and Kakarot can go find your daughter," he offered. "Where did you send her?"

"She was supposed to go to Master Roshi's to get the Bansho Fan. It's the only thing that can extinguish the flames on Fire Mountain," the king explained, his voice heavy with both concern for his daughter and his lands.

"She probably got held up on the way," Raditz stated. "Kakarot and I will find her."

"And while they're doing that, we'll go to get the Bansho Fan," Bulma added. "If we bring both your daughter and the fan back, would you consider..?"

Ox King nodded, knowing what she was going to ask. "If you bring my daughter back safely and a way to put out these flames, I will happily hand my Dragon Ball over to you so that you can complete your own quest and stop that monster."

Vegeta nodded his thanks and moved to take Bulma. Raditz and Goku were looking at a picture Ox King had of his daughter so they would know who to find while Vegeta picked the human up. His action has startled Bulma and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck before questioning him with her eyes. He didn't answer her unspoken question. Instead, he turned to Nappa. "You met the man so surely you would be able to recognize his energy and lead us there," the prince remarked.

Nappa's expression soured, but he nodded. "Yeah, I can get us there."

"Then let's hurry," Vegeta ordered as he and Nappa took off to the skies.

Raditz memorized the photograph and then took off with his brother using the Nimbus cloud. "So, a daughter is a girl, right?" Goku asked making his older brother shake his head.

"Yes, Kakarot," the Saiyan replied.

Ox King was watching as their silhouettes disappeared from view before he returned to see what he could do to help his people. In the rush to find the Ox King's daughter and retrieve the Bansho Fan, no one knew that a desert bandit was listening in or that he recognized the girl in the picture for he had already encountered the child. He was concerned that he had harmed her and took off on foot with his sidekick to return to the spot where he left the unconscious child.

* * *

><p>Raditz was flying only as fast as Nimbus so that Goku could keep up and also because he was scanning for the girl on the ground below. He spotted a small, human body lying down on the ground causing his expression to darken. He really hoped that the child was fine, just taking a nap, but seeing her flat on her back and her arms spread out left a sour feeling in the pit of Raditz's stomach. "Kakarot," he stated almost robotically, "we need to touch down."<p>

"Okay!" the little boy chimed, not knowing what was going on in his brother's mind.

The older Saiyan was immensely relieved when they landed and he saw the girl's chest rise and fall with life. It would have been terrible if she had been seriously injured or worse. He would not want to be the one to tell a father that he lost his child. Goku ran over to the child that was no taller than he was and gently smacked her awake…which, for being a Saiyan, wasn't all that gentle.

"Ouch!" the girl snapped as she woke up from her nap. She looked around to see her attacker, but was highly surprised when she saw a smiling boy who looked to be around her age right in front of her. Her astonishment dissipated behind her rage. "Hey!" she shouted at him. "What did you that for?"

"You're Chi Chi, right?" Goku asked causing Raditz to face-palm. Of course she was Chi Chi. She was identical to the girl in the picture. Raditz was strangely happy that he never hit his head as a child. This was just too ridiculous.

The girl grew silent, wondering why the boy was asking her name. Raditz could see the hesitation plastered on her face and explained, "We're doing a favor for your father, the Ox King. He asked us to find you while our other friends went to go find this Master Roshi. He's trying to help the people."

"How do I know you aren't lying?" the young girl responded with a scowl.

Goku's happiness instantly left as he eyed the girl, or what he assumed to be a girl. He knew Raditz told him he couldn't just check if someone was a girl, but it was just so hard to tell. The little Saiyan jumped down from Nimbus and quickly went to check if Chi Chi was a girl, and she responded by letting him have it and accidentally grabbing his tail to get him away from her.

Raditz was completely amused by the situation, though he pitied his brother for getting his tail grabbed. "Get away from me," Chi Chi cried, but Goku had lost all his power and ability to move and could not remove himself from the girl.

The older Saiyan walked over to the girl who was trying to smack Goku off of her. He put his hand on his brother's tail and his other on the girl's hand and gently pried them apart before placing Goku on the Flying Nimbus. "Sorry about that," Raditz said fondly. "Kid hit his head as a baby and really doesn't get boundaries. He meant nothing by it. Was only checking to, um, see if you were a girl."

Chi Chi blushed and then felt bad that she had hurt Goku in some way. The kid still seemed a little out of it, but slightly more relaxed when the older man had placed him on the cloud and released hold of his tail. She did see the guy rub the tail for a moment before he released. "W-What did I do to him?" she asked hesitantly. "And who are you?"

Raditz chuckled as he faced the girl with a small smile. "I'm Raditz, and this is my little brother, Kakarot, though he prefers to be called Goku." At Chi Chi's inquisitive expression, he added, "It's a long story. And you accidentally yanked his tail. That's a weak spot for us…well, if we haven't trained it out of us. Our tails are very sensitive and, if pulled, we can temporarily lose our power and energy…turning into a mess, though, is Kakarot's thing."

The human girl felt immensely guilty for causing the little boy pain, especially knowing that he wasn't trying to…well, he wasn't trying to be perverted. "So…" she said awkwardly, "my father really did send you to find me? And someone really is going to Roshi's to find the Bansho Fan?" Raditz nodded an affirmative. "Then, please take me back home. My father needs to know that I'm okay."

"You got it, princess," Raditz teased. He looked back over to his brother who was starting to come to. "Hey, Kakarot." His brother didn't respond making Raditz sigh. He didn't know if Nimbus would listen to him, but it became a moot point when Chi Chi climbed on Nimbus and tried to help wake his brother up. It didn't go unnoticed by Raditz that she, too, could sit on the cloud. Raditz grinned and then shook his head as Chi Chi told the cloud where to go. _Children, _he thought fondly as they all took for the skies, unaware that the desert bandit was listening closely, ascertaining the Saiyans' weaknesses.

* * *

><p>Nappa was able to locate the turtle hermit's island. It was a small place in the middle of nowhere. Vegeta had never really seen islands before considering he lived on a desert planet. "So this is the place," Vegeta stated curtly as he looked at the small, pink house. He grimaced and added, "There's not much to it."<p>

"Well, if it isn't some of the people I met with little Goku," Roshi said, making his presence known. Vegeta was surprised to see a short, old man standing in front of him. The man waved. "How's it going?"

"We need to talk to you about something," Bulma stated as Vegeta released her. "We were sent on an errand."

"An errand, eh?" the man questioned before laughing strangely. Vegeta's brow quirked as he was trying to figure out what was so funny. "Let's see if I can help you with it."

The old man was making his way closer to Bulma and Vegeta could see beneath his glasses the mischief in his eyes. He narrowed his eyes at the man as a sense of déjà vu hit him again and he knew not to let this lecherous old man anywhere near his mate. Vegeta instantly knocked the man away to stop him and snapped at him that Bulma was off limits.

Bulma's heart beat rapidly in her chest as Vegeta made his move. She had started to see Roshi's intent, but she was ready to defend herself if need be. The fact that Vegeta saw it, too, and moved to defend her honor made her feel both wonderful and a bit nervous. The nervousness came from the fact that Vegeta acted so possessive over her. It reminded her that he saw her as a "future mate" while to her he was just someone she had met a few days ago with a troubled past. Despite that fact, she really was trying to get to know him, but his protectiveness always seemed to panic her. Somehow Vegeta had wormed himself more into her heart, but she was at a loss of what to do.

"That has nothing to do with the errand in question!" Vegeta shouted at the old man, ready to attack him again. "Be decent!"

Roshi quickly stood up and held up his hands in defense. "Easy, easy," he ordered as he waved his hands slightly in a manner to say 'settle down.' "If that's not your errand, what exactly do you all need? I know I recognize the tall one and the girl over here, though the last time I saw her she seemed so sad."

"Back to the point," Nappa scoffed, "the Bansho Fan. We need it. Now."

"The Bansho Fan?" Roshi questioned in shock. "What in blazes do you need that for?"

"For exactly what you said," Vegeta remarked. "Blazes. There's a fire on Fire Mountain and the Ox King is in need of the fan to put out the flames."

"Ah, the Ox King," Roshi pondered, "one of my old students. Well, I don't have the Bansho Fan anymore, but I could still be of some use."

"Feh," Nappa laughed. "What use could you be, old man?"

Roshi's countenance seemed to change slightly, and Vegeta could sense that the man was wiser beyond his years and stronger than he looked. "I can put the flames out myself."

"What?" Nappa nearly yelled.

"I'm sorry, what?" Bulma asked at the same time Nappa snarled at the elder.

Vegeta was the only one who remained silent, sizing up the old man. Nothing regarding his demeanor suggested he was bragging or stretching the truth. He truly believed he could put out the flames of his old charge's land. Ox King clearly trusted his old master as well. "Then you will come with us."

Nappa looked at Vegeta, aghast. "You can't be serious. You actually believe this human? He's nothing but a letch!"

At hearing the term, "human," Master Roshi seemed curious. Not wanting to linger on the subject any longer. "We need to get back to Fire Mountain. Nappa, take him. I'll take Bulma." He looked over to the human fighter. "We'll get there faster is we fly."

* * *

><p>Raditz and Goku had already gotten back with Chi Chi already, and Goku had already recovered from his tail experience. They glanced over at Vegeta and Nappa touching down on the ground with Bulma and Roshi. "Master Roshi!" Ox King exclaimed. "It's been too long."<p>

"It has, Ox," his former master replied, taking in the amount of flames and the damages they were causing. "Now, I'll just-"

"Master Roshi, it's good to see you again," Goku said excitedly. "Did you bring the Baboon Fan?"

Raditz sighed in frustration and reiterated, "Ban-sho Fan, Kakarot."

"That's what I said!"

"He did not have the fan in his possession," Vegeta stated making the king's face fall, "but he assures us he can get the flames out himself."

"Heh," Nappa scoffed, disbelieving. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Then prepare for a show," Roshi scolded. "Watch closely."

The human took his stance directly in front of the wake of the flames. He took in a deep breath before he pulled his hands back, his wrists joined. "Kame," he called out, blue ki flickering in his palms. "Hame," he said again, the ki growing and becoming more stable. "HA!" he shouted as his hands moved forth, a large beam of ki breaking the wave of fire in front of them whilst blowing the flames out with the force of the attack.

The Saiyans looked at the small, old man in shock, having not expected this huge ki attack. Yes, compared to them, the attack was much weaker, but it was still an impressive feat for an old, human man. The three gained a new respect for the idiosyncratic fighter and his masterful techniques.

But no one noticed what else the force of his attack could do.

With nowhere else for the beam to go, it hit directly into Fire Mountain and destroyed a part of it, in addition to putting the flames out. Nervously, Roshi chuckled, "Well…at least they're out."

Bulma flashed the old man a glare because now it was going to be much harder to find the Dragon Ball _AND _the Ox King's home was ruined. "How can you joke about something like that?"

"It's fine," Ox King assured the girl. "We can rebuilt. If the flames hadn't been put out, we wouldn't have been able to do anything."

"In any case, my work here is done," Roshi stated before looking at his former student. "So, Ox, how have you been doing?"

While Roshi was caught up in pleasantries with the Ox King, his daughter, and both Goku and Raditz, Vegeta looked to Bulma who was busy trying to get her Dragon Radar to sense the sphere they needed. He gently grabbed her, making her jump, before flying the two of them up to a pile of rubble. Bulma looked to him with thankfulness before she finally found the spot where they needed to dig.

Making her way over to the spot, Bulma tripped over some of the rubble and nearly fell. The impact, of course, never happened and Bulma felt a strong arm holding her steady. She glanced up at the Saiyan prince who had not yet moved to released her. "Well, that could have been pretty bad," she joked, but his serious expression remained. She teasingly added, "So that's the second time today you've had to 'rescue' me from falling."

"I will always be there to rescue you, Bulma," Vegeta stated earnestly as he finally set her back down. He continued on his way to the spot indicated on her radar while Bulma pondered his words.

His words made her feel both comfortable and scared. On the one hand, it was nice to know that she had someone actually looking out for her. Vegeta didn't truly owe her anything, even if these visions showed them together. Still, his visions are what bothered her. Not necessarily the visions of them together, but the fact that he had them. He was not only haunted by visions that never came to fruition, but he still saw futuristic things including moments where he would save her. The fact that he admitted that he would always be there to save her indicated that there would be many more times where she needed to be saved. That did not sit well with her.

Vegeta drew Bulma's attention back when he casually dropped the orange sphere on her lap. The human glanced down to the seven-starred ball and then smiled. They now had another Dragon Ball, and soon Vegeta and the Saiyans could make their wish. "We should head back," the prince stated before Bulma nodded and placed the ball into her backpack.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, down below as the Saiyan prince and Bulma searched, Goku was asking Master Roshi about his Kamehameha Wave technique. The little boy wanted to know if he could perform that, too. "Well, Goku, it took me fifty years to master that technique, so I'm not sure if you could."<p>

Goku looked a little deflated at the rejection, but Raditz knew his brother could use the technique if he wanted. He decided to egg his little brother on a bit. "Kakarot, try it out. Let's see what you can do."

Roshi casted the Saiyan brother an unamused glance, narrowing his eyes at him. Raditz responded by crossing his arms and smirking, motioning to his little brother who had already centered himself and gotten into Roshi's earlier stance. He mimicked everything perfect: the stance, the moves, the chant, and, yes, the blaring ki blast that he directed towards the sky. The old turtle hermit looked back at Raditz who was proudly watching his brother perform the old man's technique. Nappa seemed impressed, but he, too, looked like he expected the attack to work out. His impression was over the amount of power the boy's ki possessed. The two human men were stunned, but Chi Chi was colored impressed by Goku's actions.

Bulma and Vegeta touched down right after, and the prince didn't look too happy. "Kakarot, you need to aim next time," he admonished. "That blast was directed towards us."

"Oops," Goku replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, Veggie… I just didn't want to hit the mountain again. I thought you were still there."

Vegeta didn't really mind because he could sense the attack coming and was easily able to avoid it, but Bulma had been a little terrified of the beam that passed right by her face after Vegeta's evasion. "It's fine. We've gotten what we came for."

"Well, it's about time," Oolong finally spoke up having been left behind by the Saiyans that day and forced to endure the heat.

Vegeta, Raditz, and Nappa all glared at the pig, silencing him, though Oolong wasn't very happy about it. The prince looked over to the king. "Thank you for hearing us out," he stated diplomatically.

Ox King just smiled at him and said, "That was the easy part. Thank you for getting my daughter back safely and for getting the fire out."

"We wish we could stay and help you rebuild," Raditz interjected.

"You have your own journey to take," the king answered. "If you need anything, let me know. You Saiyans are always welcome here."

"Saiyans?" Roshi questioned, glancing over at the aliens. No one answered his wondering.

"So…" Bulma murmured. "We have to go flying in that direction."

Vegeta followed her line of sight and then took her form in. She still seemed a bit tense and shaky after nearly getting his by Goku's attack. This caused the prince to make a request that would weave his way even more into Bulma's heart. "Why don't we just drive?" he asked. Bulma's attention snapped to him, her expression astonished. "We can just talk some more."

"Sure," Bulma replied with a smile, blushing slightly. "I'd like that."

She decapsulized her car once more, and everyone piled in. She waved once more to the king, his daughter, and the hermit before she drove away, heading further west. Chi Chi waved back at little Goku who was waving to her before he sat himself down on his brother's lap.

"Oh, Goku," the doe-eyed, little princess sighed. "I'm going to marry him one day."

And still, no one noticed that the desert bandit and his partner were still hot on the Saiyans' trail.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, so I spent days…DAYS trying to get this chapter written. I know I had it planned out, but man, writing it was a bit of a challenge. I hope no one minded the fact that I didn't go back to get the show dialogue, but that would have just delayed me more. I'm doing my best to keep the events as close as I need. I will work on planning the next chapter out soon, but when it will be written, I'm not sure. Definitely will be before 2 years. That is the hope at least…Again, sorry for the delay. It being the day before my birthday, I hope to be cut some slack. XD


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